


Command Logic

by melblue



Series: Command [1]
Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Humor, M/M, Romance, Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-06
Updated: 2011-07-06
Packaged: 2017-10-21 02:29:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 28,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/219893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melblue/pseuds/melblue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The crew of Voyager find it impossible to mind their own business.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: These characters are the property of Paramount-Viacom. I just borrowed them and am not writing for profit.
> 
> Author's Note: This story was originally completed in May 2001 and I was really excited when it won 1st place for Voyager Misc M/M slash in the Star Trek GO Awards!

"Commander Chakotay and Tuvok? Tom, are you out of your mind?" Ensign Harry Kim halted his progress along the corridor and stared at his best friend in amazement.

"Think about it, Harry."

"I don't _want_ to think about it!" Harry interrupted.

"In a way they're perfect for each other," Tom continued anyway. "Just think of all the meditation they could do together."

Harry's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "You are definitely kidding, right?"

"Well, I was at first," Tom smirked, but then his eyes grew serious. "But you know, the more I thought about it, the more I thought that they'd actually be really good together."

"Tom, Tuvok is a Vulcan."

"I'm aware of that Harry. What's your point?"

"Well, surely you've noticed? Umm... Chakotay's a fairly passionate individual."

"Yes, but he controls it well. I'm sure Tuvok admires that."

"Chakotay has a sense of humour."

"What you don't realise is that Tuvok does as well. It's very subtle, but it's there. And I've noticed that it's slightly more obvious when Chakotay is around."

"Yes, but Chakotay can be mischievous." Harry eyed Tom doubtfully.

Tom smirked again. "Well we all know that Tuvok could benefit from the occasional kick in the ass."

"Yeah," Harry sniggered slightly, but then frowned. "You've forgotten a very important point, though."

Tom raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Tuvok's bonded to T'Pel, remember?"

Tom shook his head. "I hadn't forgotten. But I think that bond has probably weakened considerably. And there's the Pon Farr to consider. Tuvok's most logical course of action would be to find a new mate, and probably one that couldn't bear children either. I'm sure Tuvok's thought of that, and you have to agree the Commander would be ideal."

Harry frowned, pondered and then smiled ruefully. "Okay Tom, you've convinced me, but you know it's never going to happen. And are we going to the holodeck or not?"

Tom Paris' smug voice faded up the corridor. "Yeah, I guess I'm hungry enough to face another one of Neelix' festivals."

* * *

Tuvok climbed through the access panel of Jeffries tube 12, straightened up and snapped the panel back into place. He watched the two figures turn the corner at the end of the corridor and disappear from view.

One eyebrow arched gracefully as he considered the fact that, once again, Lieutenant Tom Paris had surprised him. Although it was, of course, typical that the Lieutenant and the Ensign had conducted a private, and not to mention disrespectful conversation, in a public hallway, Tuvok had to admit to himself that the discussion he had just overheard had, in fact, fascinated him. Lieutenant Paris, a flighty individual at best, much prone to instinctive leaps of understanding, had actually presented a concise and logical viewpoint on a subject which had, on occasion much occupied Tuvok's mind.

It was true, his bond with T'Pel had faded, distance and time major factors, but what many humans wouldn't realize, was that lack of sexual activity had also weakened the bond. Whilst the Pon Farr was a frenzied instinct to complete a mating bond, Vulcans did enjoy healthy sex lives. And Tuvok had always practiced his healthy sex life very thoroughly indeed.

In fact, the logic of taking a new mate, had related more to the lack of that healthy sex life, then any concerns he might have had regarding the Pon Farr. Particularly as three years would pass before he would experience the mating frenzy again.

It was also true, that when considering the potential of mates on board Voyager, he had ruled out the possibility of a partner who could bear children. Whilst birth control was a matter of course in this century, Tuvok considered that a mate who was unable to reproduce would mean that the possibility would never arise in the future, and he had no desire to father children whilst adrift in the Delta Quadrant. He assumed that any male who chose to partner him, would also have considered the lack of the possibility of children as a benefit to the relationship. It had been many years since Tuvok had experimented with a same sex partner, and he found himself intrigued at the idea of experiencing that particular form of physical pleasure with a human male.

And the last truth, which the Lieutenant had surprisingly arrived at independently, was that Commander Chakotay had always been his first choice as that human male.

"Ah... there you are, Mr Vulcan."

Tuvok realized, belatedly, that he had been standing in the hallway for at least five minutes, gazing at the far wall, and snapped his eyes in the direction of the voice that had interrupted his thoughts. How... irritating... that it was, of course, Neelix.

"You seemed rather distracted," Neelix smiled at him delightedly. "You must have been thinking about something very interesting."

"Indeed, Mr. Neelix. I assume you have a good reason for interrupting my interesting thoughts." Tuvok stated flatly.

"Well, of course, I do, Mr. Vulcan. Don't you remember that today is the Kintaran Slug Holiday? The feast is due to start in five minutes. Most of us are already in the holodeck."

Tuvok indulged in a most delicate and barely noticeable shudder. "Ah. Mr. Neelix, I am afraid that I am unable..."

Neelix' hand gripped his forearm tightly. "Now, now Tuvok. No excuses. I happen to know your duty shift finished ten minutes ago, and you need to relax. The Kintaran Slug Holiday will definitely be more enjoyable than standing around in hallways, I assure you."

Tuvok further indulged himself with a long-suffering sigh and followed Neelix to the holodeck.


	2. Chapter 2

Tuvok entered his quarters two hours later, in a decidedly agitated state of mind. Neelix had surpassed himself. The Kintaran Slug Holiday feast had been a disaster of epic and almost violent proportions. Tuvok was still unable to comprehend the fact that the Talaxian had found it appropriate to actually serve slugs at a feast where there were no Kintarans present, particularly when the slugs were incompatible with the humanoid digestive system. He had compounded this error by not informing the guests until most of the slugs had been consumed. The Doctor and Kes had been overwhelmed by a mass migration to sickbay and another contingent of the crew had pursued Neelix into the mess hall, where the Talaxian had barricaded himself in his galley.

It had taken Tuvok at least an hour to diffuse the situation in the mess hall. It would have taken less time if the mob hadn't contained half his security team. By the time he had managed to remind his team of their duties to contain disturbances, rather than add to them, the crowd had been swollen by some very pale and very angry crewmembers who had left the sickbay, collected the remaining slugs from the holodeck and begun hurling them into the galley.

With the assistance of Lieutenant Paris and Ensign Kim, both of whom had, thankfully, not eaten any of the Kintaran delicacies, Tuvok had finally managed to quell the crowd, and had even refrained from placing everyone involved on report. Though he had been sorely tempted to send Neelix to the brig. It was at this point, that the Captain and Commander Chakotay had entered the mess hall.

The Captain had requested an immediate report, and Tuvok had briefly apprised her of the events that had taken place, as the crowd speedily dispersed. It was when Tuvok was recommending that Neelix' penchant for obscure festivals and feasts be curtailed severely, that he had looked over the Captain's shoulder and discovered that Commander Chakotay was in a state that could best be described as barely contained hysteria.

And now, sitting in his own quarters, it was the vision of those warm, brown eyes twinkling with suppressed laughter that rose in Tuvok's mind and reminded him of his earlier thoughts regarding the Commander.

Tuvok had always admired the Commander's physical attractions, and as their time on Voyager had passed, had also found himself fascinated by the First Officer's personality. At first, he had found the prospect of serving under a former Maquis renegade rather difficult, especially as their relationship was already strained from Tuvok's previous mission on Chakotay's Maquis ship. However, after an initial period of tenseness, Tuvok considered that Chakotay had handled the situation with great strength of character and finesse. Now he perceived that the Commander was a strong asset as Voyager's First Officer and he further believed that StarFleet had lost an extremely valuable officer when Chakotay had resigned his commission. There were many times when Tuvok had found it easier to work with the Commander, than with the Captain.

Certainly, he had come to believe that a liaison with the Commander would be an experience well worth exploring, and after hearing the conversation between the Lieutenant and the Ensign, Tuvok was beginning to feel that the next logical step for him to take would be to pursue such a relationship. This was especially true as visions of the Commander were beginning to intrude on his thoughts on an extremely regular basis.

Tuvok ordered some Vulcan tea from his replicator, returned to his couch and frowned at the wall in abstract thought. He would need to develop a logical plan of action for achieving his goal. Before approaching the Commander with his proposal, it would be better to have some idea of the First Officer's romantic preferences, and also, he frowned to himself again, if the Commander was already involved in a liaison. Tuvok was well aware that the Commander was a discreet individual; it was, in fact, another point in his favour. While he had heard nothing about Chakotay having a current involvement with another member of the crew, Tuvok was also aware that the Commander was more than capable of defeating Voyager's gossip network. A reconnaissance mission was obviously in order. He would observe Commander Chakotay's behaviour for a period of time and then decide on his next course of action based on the information he gathered.

* * *

It had been a very strange week for Commander Chakotay. His work schedule had proceeded with monotonous regularity and oddly enough, Voyager had not encountered any hostile aliens or weird anomalies. The Captain had remained quite content in her Ready Room, drinking large amounts of coffee, and he had even managed to persuade her to spend some time in the holodeck. The crew had performed their duties like clockwork and even Neelix had been, thankfully, subdued. However, the strangest thing about his week had been the extraordinary behaviour of Voyager's Vulcan security chief.

It seemed that Tuvok had become his permanent shadow. In fact, Chakotay reflected, if he had been in any way paranoid he would have started to think that there was some sort of threat to his life, which was being kept a secret from him. Still, the way that Tuvok was in the vicinity whenever he turned around, or the way he could feel the Vulcan's eyes burning into the back of his head on the bridge, was a little odd. He had even been stunned to find Tuvok hovering in the holodeck when Chakotay was there off-duty.

On one occasion, when he had encountered the Vulcan in Jeffries tube 23, he had asked Tuvok if there was something he needed assistance with. The Vulcan had responded with a bland look and an enigmatic, 'No thank you, Commander, not at this time', which had only succeeded in whetting his curiosity further.

If it were any other crewmember, Chakotay might have suspected that he had become the object of an infatuation. But this was Tuvok, and he couldn't for the life of him imagine why the Vulcan was, well... basically stalking him. The infuriating thing was, that he had to admit to himself he wouldn't actually mind being the object of Tuvok's infatuation.

Chakotay had surprised himself when he had realized, a year ago, that he was attracted to Voyager's security chief. At first he had been rather annoyed, the initial strain of their working relationship had only just begun to ease and the last thing he had needed was a further complication with the Vulcan. He quickly worked at suppressing his interest, as he felt that the likelihood of anything developing between them was extremely remote. He also had had his doubts about their compatibility, Tuvok, as a Vulcan, was usually coldly emotionless (although Chakotay had been pleased to discover that the security chief possessed a dry sense of humour). Chakotay found it hard to imagine that his own emotional needs could be met by a Vulcan. However, he did still occasionally indulge in some rather pleasant fantasizing about Tuvok.

Chakotay sighed to himself and stoically redirected the train of his thoughts. After all, he guessed he would find out soon enough what was on Tuvok's mind. Tuvok had earlier that day made an appointment to see him in his quarters at 2000 hours, and if he didn't finish this report soon and leave his office, he would be late.

* * *

As Tuvok made his way to Commander Chakotay's quarters, he reviewed the progress he had made in the past week and found himself satisfied with the information he had gathered. He had accessed the Commander's personnel records and discovered that at one time, early in his career in StarFleet, a young human male had been listed as Chakotay's de-facto partner.

After observing the Commander for a week, he had also ascertained that Chakotay was not currently romantically involved with any members of Voyager's crew. Reflecting on the Commander's respect for honesty and directness, Tuvok had also decided to be deliberately obvious about his interest in the Commander's activities, and now, after reviewing what he had learnt in the last week, had concluded that the direct approach would be the best method in proceeding with his plan.


	3. Chapter 3

"Good evening Commander."

"Ah Tuvok, right on time as usual. Come on in." Chakotay stepped back, and then followed Tuvok to the centre of the room. "So what can I help you with?"

Tuvok turned and gazed at Chakotay with his usual impenetrable stare. "Commander, I wish to put forward a proposal which I believe will be beneficial to both of us."

_Ah, finally_ , Chakotay thought, and waited. "Uh... Okay, go ahead Tuvok."

Again there was silence, and Tuvok shifted his feet slightly. Chakotay noticed this and frowned. _If I didn't know better, I'd think he was nervous._

"Tuvok," he said aloud. "Would you like something to drink, some tea perhaps?"

"No thank you, Commander."

"Okay. Well if you don't mind, I think I will."

Tuvok nodded and Chakotay stepped to the replicator and ordered his favourite blend of herbal tea. Sipping his tea, he turned back to face Tuvok, who cleared his throat.

"Commander, after some thought I have reached the conclusion that the next logical progression for our relationship, provided you are agreeable, is for us to become... intimate."

Chakotay's jaw hit the floor at almost the same time as his tea. He stood, in a rapidly expanding patch of damp carpet, and stared at Tuvok in absolute astonishment. After a moment he realized his mouth was hanging open and snapped it shut.

"Commander, you have dropped your tea," Tuvok pointed out helpfully.

Chakotay found his voice. "Tuvok... " He cleared his throat. "Did you just say... intimate?"

Tuvok raised an eyebrow. "I could use the term 'lovers' if you prefer?"

Chakotay was beginning to wonder if he hadn't perhaps inadvertently crossed into an alternate universe. _It could have been when I replicated the tea_ he thought, and then realized his mind was babbling.

"Obviously you had not considered this possibility," Tuvok stated flatly.

Chakotay thought quickly. In general he was a scrupulously honest man, but at this moment he wasn't ready to give too much away. Not until he was sure about what was actually happening here. So he compromised. "No... I certainly hadn't imagined the possibility of you walking into my quarters and saying... what you've said," he answered vaguely. He shook his head to clear it, walked over to the couch and sat down. "Frankly, I'm amazed that you have."

Tuvok stared pointedly at the puddle on the floor. "That too, is obvious." His voice was, if possible, even dryer than usual. However, he had noticed the Commander's earlier prevarication and he began to suspect that perhaps Chakotay had actually considered Tuvok as a potential mate. He decided some discreet fishing was in order, and turned to look at Chakotay again. "You are not offended?"

"No, No," Chakotay assured him, too quickly. "You just... took me by surprise. Um... perhaps you should sit down and explain to me how you reached this conclusion?"

Tuvok was satisfied and he decided to humour the Commander's apparent decision not to reveal himself yet. He took the seat opposite Chakotay and watched him for a moment.

Chakotay had just had a rather unsettling thought and he was staring at the floor with a slight frown crossing his features. He wasn't sure if he should ask, but he needed to find out if his idea could be true. He looked up and found Tuvok's steady gaze upon him.

"To be honest... this seems a strange step for you to take. It's not...?"

"I am not experiencing symptoms of the Pon Farr." Tuvok stated firmly. The Commander's unusual lack of tact surprised him for a moment. Then he remembered that human's often reverted to primitive behaviour when unsure of a situation. He recognized that the Commander was indeed nervous; in fact, at this very moment his face was taking on that pinkish hue that humans experienced when embarrassed. Tuvok found himself satisfied with the current development of the conversation, and decided to be more forward himself.

"Commander, may I ask _why_ you find it amazing that I have thought of this possibility? You are, after all, an attractive..." he broke off as he noticed Chakotay's smile of mirth.

"Sorry Tuvok, but I've never been so formally propositioned before." At Tuvok's inquiring look Chakotay added, "You keep calling me 'Commander'."

Tuvok's eyebrow rose. One of the qualities he had always found... appealing... about the Commander, was his quick recognition of the ridiculous. Though he sometimes found the Commander's use of humour irreverent, he had certainly realized its charm.

"Very well, Chakotay, as I was saying you are an attractive human male. There are many crew members on Voyager who would enjoy a liaison with you; is it so astonishing that I am one of them?"

Chakotay was at a momentary loss for words and took a deep breath in an attempt to clear his racing mind. "Ah...frankly, I hadn't noticed your interest, no."

"Indeed," Tuvok frowned. "I thought I had been sufficiently obvious."

"Well... I had noticed you've been... around a lot in the last week, but I hadn't really thought that..." Chakotay broke off, as he realized, with astonishment that Tuvok _had_ been following him around to show his interest. "Tuvok, stalking someone is not a human courtship ritual," he continued.

"Comm...Chakotay, it was not my intention to _stalk_ you. I was merely trying to ascertain whether my proposal might be acceptable to you before I approached you."

Chakotay could not believe his ears. _Spirits, I'll bet it was a reconnaissance mission,_ he thought. _He can't be that out of practice._

"I see," he stated serenely. "So I gather you decided that it would be?"

Tuvok eyed the Commander carefully. He was beginning to sense, uncomfortably, that the conversation was going in a direction he hadn't intended.

"Perhaps I should begin again. In the last year, I have come to admire many qualities of your personality, Chakotay. Your quick thinking and courage, your loyalty and sympathy for the crew of Voyager and the purity and strength of your character. I also have a strong physical attraction towards you. I am interested in pursuing a more intimate relationship with you, and I was hoping that you would also feel such an interest."

Chakotay was annoyed to feel himself flushing slightly at Tuvok's words. While not exactly romantic, those words had touched him. The Vulcan was a difficult character to read and Chakotay had never been sure exactly how Tuvok viewed him. Now it seemed, that Tuvok viewed him in a way that he had never thought possible. At the same time, he found himself appalled at what seemed a certain clinical detachment in Tuvok's proposition. Okay, so Tuvok was a Vulcan, but surely there should be more to this situation than what basically amounted to a 'let's get to it' statement. And then there was the matter of T'Pel.

"Umm...Thankyou Tuvok. I appreciate your honesty, and I'll be honest here as well. I have to admit, that I was always under the impression that you had a strong commitment to your bond with T'Pel."

"Indeed."

Now Chakotay was completely confused. _Indeed! What the hell does he mean by that?_ "Perhaps I have no right to ask such a personal question," he said aloud, "But..."

"Chakotay," Tuvok interrupted. "I do not find it surprising that you ask this question." He paused for a moment. "My bond with T'Pel will always be important to me. However, that bond is no longer strong and under the circumstances, it is not logical for either partner to attempt to preserve it. I should be clear, that I am not asking you to become my bondmate. Older Vulcans, at times, do take mates without completing a Pon Farr bond."

"I see," Chakotay responded and then fell silent. He found himself at a complete loss as to what to say next. He was battling a sensation of excited terror, which he found irritating and slightly nauseating.

"Chakotay," Tuvok's voice broke the silence and had a calming effect on him. "Perhaps, you could tell me if you are at all interested in my proposal?"

Chakotay took a deep breath and thought furiously. Crunch time had obviously arrived. Okay, so he knew he was attracted to Tuvok, but the idea of acting upon that attraction was beginning to feel surreal. What would they actually do? He really didn't know much about Vulcans, and he didn't really know Tuvok that well either. He did know that he didn't just want a simplistic sexual relationship and he also knew that at a certain level he was horrified at Tuvok's dispassionate approach. And rather childishly, he admitted to himself, there was the matter of his pride. Did Tuvok really think he could just walk into Chakotay's quarters, state his case and expect Chakotay to drop his pants? Still, he owed Tuvok some honesty at least.

"Well" he began, "I will admit that I find you attractive as well. Maybe..." he paused, frowned and then continued, "I don't know... I guess there is a possibility that this could work. But, I think we should go slowly with it. You know, we've never really socialised with each other. Perhaps we should just spend some time together and see how it goes."

Tuvok found himself oddly disappointed with the Commander's reply. While the words contained hope, there was a dull look about Chakotay's face as he spoke them. The usual spark of interest and good humour was missing from the warm, dark eyes and his tone was strangely flat. Something had obviously gone wrong.

"I agree," he stated gently, as he searched the Commander's face carefully. "In that case, would you join me in my quarters for dinner tomorrow night?"

"That would be a pleasure," Tuvok noticed that Chakotay's warm smile still held a certain amount of strain.

"Is 2030 a good time for you?" Tuvok rose, and Chakotay stood also to follow him to the door.

"Yes, that would be fine. I'll look forward to it." Chakotay said the words, but there was a depressing feeling of hopeless despair at the situation, rising inside him and he was beginning to doubt that he would enjoy himself. Was it meant to be this ... cold? Well, all he could do was give it a chance.

As he reached the door, Tuvok turned and gazed at Chakotay again. He still didn't like what he was seeing on the Commander's face. There was a dejected air about Chakotay and his eyes were not quite meeting Tuvok's. Tuvok wasn't exactly sure what had gone wrong, but he knew he had to fix it quickly.

Tuvok made a spontaneous decision, and resting his hands on Chakotay's waist he gently placed his lips over the Commander's.

When Chakotay realized that Tuvok was about to kiss him, his eyes widened in shocked dismay. His first instinct was to step back, but before he could move Tuvok's hands were firmly gripping his waist, and then soft, warm lips settled on his mouth. As those lips brushed against his own, Chakotay battled to suppress the hysterical giggle, which to his great shame, he could feel rising inside him. _What the hell is wrong with me?_ he thought frantically. _Giggling!_ Then Tuvok's lips moved more firmly and all thoughts flew out of Chakotay's head. His eyes drifted shut.

Chakotay felt Tuvok's hands slide to his back and, obeying their insistent pressure, he stepped forward, sighing into Tuvok's mouth. The slight parting of his lips was taken advantage of immediately, and Chakotay gripped Tuvok's shoulders convulsively, when he realized with some surprise that the Vulcan's tongue was now plunging into his mouth. Hotter than any he had felt before, Chakotay gasped as it swept commandingly between his lips. His head was spinning, it was becoming difficult to stand, and he clutched even more tightly at Tuvok's shoulders as the Vulcan continued to plunder his mouth, with a deep, hot kiss.

And then suddenly it was over. Chakotay's eyes flew open and he quickly pulled back, face flaming with embarrassment as he realized that he was practically crawling up Tuvok's body in an attempt to follow those tantalizing lips.

Tuvok's hands slid down along his arms, steadied him and then let go, while Chakotay stared blankly into the Vulcan's dark eyes.

"I'll see you at 2030 then, Commander," Tuvok said, calmly.

"Umm… Yeah," God, it was annoying that he had to clear his throat.

His door slid shut behind the security chief.

"Gods," Chakotay breathed. "What was that?"


	4. Chapter 4

The next day, Chakotay had only a half-duty shift, and he spent the afternoon nervously reliving the scene of the evening before and contemplating his upcoming dinner with Tuvok.

He felt as if he was floundering, and it was not a sensation he was accustomed to. He was also discovering that it was a sensation he didn't like. In some ways he felt better about the situation than he had before Tuvok had kissed him. The Vulcan had certainly proven that he wasn't always the cold, dispassionate man that he usually appeared.

On the other hand, he felt like a rug had been swept out from under his feet. Suddenly, a person he thought he knew, seemed to have hidden depths, and he had no idea what to expect next. The fact that he was undeniably attracted to the person, made the whole situation slightly terrifying.

And… Oh Spirits… was he attracted! That kiss… had done something to him. It had fuelled some fire within him that he had thought long burnt out. While, he hadn't exactly been suppressing his sexual needs, his role as Voyager's First Officer had certainly not allowed him to indulge them often, and so he had simply ignored them as much as possible.

But now the feelings were welling up inside him, and he realized how truly frustrated he had been, for several months now, and deeper than that frustration, was… loneliness. A longing for friendship, companionship and love overwhelmed him. He sighed, and for the first time in a long time he felt… homesick, bereft of his family. He thought of his 'date' tonight and wondered if he was going mad to have agreed. Was it possible that Tuvok could offer more than simple sexual gratification?

Chakotay shook his head, rose to his feet and ordered some tea from his replicator. As he sipped it, his mind once again dwelt on the kiss of the night before. A mischievous grin slowly spread across his face. Still there was something to be said for sexual gratification. And that kiss had certainly proved that sex with Tuvok would be very gratifying.

He frowned to himself as he realized that he still didn't know what sex with Tuvok might entail. Well he could remedy that immediately. Chakotay strode over to his desk, and pulled up the medical database on his desk monitor, and after giving his clearance, settled in for an extensive perusal of the Vulcan anatomy and physiology section.

Half an hour later, Chakotay sat back in his chair with another mischievous grin. While the database hadn't contained an enormous amount of information, there had certainly been enough to sustain his interest. _And whet my appetite_ , he thought to himself with a smirk. _Who would have thought that Vulcan anatomy would be so…_ A dreamy expression crossed his face as his mind drifted. _I mean, that bit on the end of…_

A few minutes passed as Chakotay smiled blankly at his desk. Then he shivered, looked up, and noticed the time on his monitor. _1930, better get ready I guess._ His smile expanded into a grin. _Don't want to be late._

* * *

Tuvok surveyed the preparations he had made for his dinner with the Commander, with a strong sense of satisfaction. His quarters were dimly lit with many glowing candles, and the table was laid with some obscure vegetarian dishes from Vulcan, which he felt sure that Chakotay would not have experienced before and would greatly enjoy. All in all, very inviting he thought. Now the only thing lacking was his guest, and at that moment his door chimed, and he swiftly crossed the room to open it.

"Comm… Chakotay, please come in."

His guest smiled and entered the room, looking around curiously.

"You know, Tuvok, I can't remember ever being in your quarters before," Chakotay stepped forward and then grimaced as his knee hit a small table. "The candles are lovely. Is that a Vulcan thing?"

"In general, Vulcan's prefer dim lighting. We also find it particularly helpful for meditation. I believe in early times on Vulcan…" Tuvok halted as he realized that Chakotay was offering him a bottle.

"I brought some wine. It's from Dorvan V, my homeworld. It's very light and refreshing and I thought you might enjoy it."

"Thank you, Chakotay," Tuvok took the bottle and moved over to the table to pour it. "Would you prefer to eat immediately?"

"Well, I have to admit, I am rather hungry. And something smells absolutely delicious."

Chakotay followed Tuvok over to the table and sat down, watching as the Vulcan opened the wine. The slight awkwardness he had felt on first entering Tuvok's quarters had now dissipated. It had been a surprise to see Tuvok wearing something other than his uniform, but on reflection, the long, loose robe made the tall Vulcan seem somehow less intimidating, and more approachable.

He took the glass that Tuvok offered him and took a sip of the wine. Yes, he was definitely beginning to relax, and judging by the interesting looking food on the table, this evening had the potential to be very enjoyable. He glanced up and noticed Tuvok watching him, and smiled. Yes, it could be very enjoyable indeed.

* * *

A couple of hours later Chakotay was still enjoying himself. The dinner had been delicious, and he had found himself surprised at Tuvok's ability to keep a guest entertained. Their conversation had been diverse and interesting, Tuvok had told him some interesting facts about Vulcan, and had also shown great curiosity about Chakotay's own homeworld. At one point, they had discussed StarFleet and Chakotay had been fascinated to find that Tuvok had once left and then rejoined StarFleet. He had found himself, for the first time, explaining to someone how he had made the decision to join the Maquis, the pain and responsibility he had felt about his relationship with his father and then his father's death. Tuvok had listened, but made no judgements and Chakotay appreciated his tact.

The discussion then turned to their current predicament, adrift in the Delta Quadrant and Tuvok's acerbic wit immediately became apparent as the topic shifted to their fellow crew members, and in particular, Neelix. Chakotay was reduced to fits of laughter when, after mentioning that Neelix seemed to have made Tuvok his personal morale boosting project, the Vulcan replied that he would happily dance a jig in the mess hall if it would mean that the little Talaxian would direct his attentions elsewhere.

Yes, all in all, Chakotay reflected as he sipped the last of his wine, it had been a lovely evening. Perhaps they could move onto something more in the future. The attraction he felt for Tuvok was definitely growing stronger as he relaxed in the Vulcan's company but he still felt the need for an element of caution, particularly as Tuvok had given no indication that this evening was anything more than a quiet dinner between two friends. Perhaps the Vulcan was now having second thoughts.

Chakotay was still surprised at the feeling of dismay that arose in him at this thought, when he noticed that his companion had fallen silent. He looked up quickly and smiled. "I've really had a lovely time tonight, Tuvok."

"I too have enjoyed myself," Tuvok assured him. He glanced at the table and then rose to his feet. "Perhaps we should move to a more comfortable location, however. The bedroom is this way."

Chakotay stood and prepared to follow the Vulcan. "Yes, I think the couch would… Wait a minute." He came to an abrupt halt and frowned. "Did you just say the… bedroom?"

Tuvok turned and raised a slightly quizzical eyebrow. "Yes, I did," he replied and then took note of Chakotay's deepening frown. "Is there something wrong, Chakotay?"

Tuvok's concern rose as the frown left Chakotay's face and was replaced with the inscrutable look, which the Commander wore when dealing with an unpleasant situation on the bridge.

"Any particular reason for the bedroom?" The Commander asked serenely.

"It is generally considered the most comfortable place for participating in sexual activity," Tuvok replied. At the look that now crossed Chakotay's face, he knew that he had definitely made the wrong answer.

Chakotay's fury rose as every feeling of relaxation and the well-being he had felt towards Tuvok died, and was replaced with disappointment and hurt. Was Tuvok really this stupid, or did he have no respect for Chakotay at all? He plastered another serene smile on his face and prepared to let Tuvok know just exactly what he thought of him.

"Yes it is," he agreed calmly. "So, after providing me with a nice meal and some pleasant conversation, you expect me to just drop my pants for you, is that it?"

Tuvok took a deep breath. "I thought that…" he began, and was extremely shocked when the normally polite Commander, interrupted him with a short bark of laughter.

"You know, Tuvok, for once in your goddamned logical Vulcan life, I don't think you've thought at all. I believe I made it quite clear last night that we should go slowly and just see what happened. Well, we don't need to do that anymore, because I can tell you what's going to happen, right now. Nothing!"

Chakotay strode over to the door and turned to face the stupid Vulcan once more, before he left the room.

"Good night, Lieutenant."


	5. Chapter 5

By the time Chakotay reached his quarters, his fury had died down into seething resentment. The whole evening had turned into a severe disappointment. Who would have thought that Tuvok would turn out to be such an idiot?

To make matters worse, Chakotay could actually see the logic in Tuvok's actions. Of course, to Tuvok, or any other Vulcan, the next step after declaring his interest and having that interest returned, would be to proceed to sexual relations. However, the fatal flaw in Tuvok's logic was that Chakotay was not another Vulcan, he was human. And while he was prepared to make some compromises to Vulcan logic, he was not prepared to accept ignorance and lack of respect for his feelings. Tuvok would have to learn, that when dealing with a human lover, things were a little different.

Chakotay frowned to himself, as he realized the direction his thoughts had taken. When had he started to think of himself as Tuvok's lover? It was disquieting to say the least, particularly when he still wasn't sure that Tuvok could provide him with the type of relationship he needed. He sighed in disappointment. The evening had seemed so promising; he had really begun to think that it might work.

Instead the whole thing had turned out to be a disaster. Tuvok's straightforward invitation to his bedroom had been like a glass of cold water thrown into his face. He had been hoping for a pleasant interlude on the couch. He had definitely been hoping for a repeat of the previous evenings kiss. Instead he had got, what amounted to a curt order into Tuvok's bed.

Resentment roiled inside him again, at the thought of Tuvok's arrogance, and then, perversely, amusement rose as he remembered the look on the Vulcan's face as he'd bade him good night. _As close to shocked confusion as I'll ever see on him._

His next concern was, of course, what would happen now. Would the Vulcan give up on the whole idea? Chakotay wasn't sure how he felt about that, but he knew one thing for certain. Until Tuvok improved his understanding of 'human courtship rituals', Chakotay was going to treat the Vulcan exactly as a First Officer should treat a Lieutenant.

* * *

Obviously he had not been thorough enough in his research. The data he had collected on human relationships and seduction techniques had definitely outlined a plan for a 'date' as dinner, conversation, relaxation, and seduction. Everything had seemed to be going well, Commander Chakotay had certainly seemed very relaxed, but when Tuvok had attempted to move to the seduction stage, the 'date' had immediately deteriorated to the point where Tuvok had been left in his empty quarters, staring at his door in stupefaction.

This was one of the most annoying problems about dealing with Humans, Tuvok reflected as he efficiently dealt with the discarded dinner items; they placed too much importance on trivial ideals of which only they themselves were aware, and then expected you to behave in accordance with those ideals. Whether you approved of them or not.

Vulcans were so much more straightforward, but then Vulcans, of course, were a much more highly developed species than Humans. Perhaps it was time to reconsider his choice to experiment with a Human, and look among the Vulcans on Voyager for a potential partner?

It would, of course, be the wisest idea, however Tuvok found himself oddly reluctant to take that course of action. The memory of the kiss he had shared with the Commander flitted through his mind, and arousal sang through his veins. The level of desire he had felt at the time had surprised Tuvok, and Chakotay's responsiveness had fuelled it further. His curiosity was piqued and he definitely wanted to experience sexual relations with the Commander.

Therefore he would have to find a way of proceeding to that goal. Which meant he would have to discuss the situation with the Commander at the earliest opportunity. Tuvok considered that a night's repose should calm the Commander's anger, and deciding that he would approach him in the morning, he calmly went to bed.

* * *

Kes was already 10 mins late in meeting Neelix in the mess hall when she exited the turbolift and approached the corner for Corridor 21C. Immediately she sensed a slight disturbance in the emotional atmosphere ahead and came to a halt just before entering the corridor.

She was surprised to hear Tuvok's voice, usually the Vulcan's aura was calm and clear, so she concluded the disturbance must be from the person he was talking to. When she heard Commander Chakotay's voice, his overly cheerful tone immediately caused her to abandon her scruples, and she moved slightly closer for a better eavesdropping position.

"Ah, good morning Lieutenant Tuvok, how are those security reports coming along?"

 _Yes,_ Kes thought to herself, _the Commander's definitely annoyed about something. I wonder what Tuvok's done._ She leaned forward slightly in eagerness to hear the Vulcan's reply.

"They are almost complete, Commander. I w…"

"Very good, Lieutenant. I'll see you on the bridge."

Kes frowned at the normally polite First Officer's interruption.

"Commander Chakotay."

"Yes Lieutenant?"

A shiver ran down Kes' spine as she heard the barely restrained impatience in Commander Chakotay's voice. Whatever Tuvok had done to upset him, must have been quite serious.

"There is a matter I would like to discuss with you."

"If you have any ship's business we can, of course, make an appointment to meet in my office."

The Commander's tone was now icily polite, and Kes' curiosity soared as she waited for Tuvok to reply.

"Chakotay, it is not ship's business. I believe it would be beneficial to discuss the events of last night."

Kes was stunned, not only at the use of Chakotay's name rather than his title, but also at the gentle tone she heard in the Vulcan's voice. Then the words she had just heard sank in, and her mouth dropped open in shock. Judging by the silence, the Commander was also taken aback, and she waited in great eagerness for what would happen next.

"I don't agree," the Commander's tone was flat. "I think it would be best to forget that we… Well, we tried and it didn't work. That's it."

"I would prefer to try again. We..."

"Look," the Commander interrupted again. "I'm not discussing this in a hallway, and frankly I'm surprised that you would choose to do so."

Suddenly Kes realized that what she was listening to basically amounted to a lovers quarrel. She could not believe her ears, and gasped in amazement, then quickly clamped her hand over her mouth in fear of being heard, but Tuvok was already speaking.

"It is not my first choice, no." Tuvok said dryly. "However, perhaps if you were to join me in my quarters for dinner this evening, we…"

Again the Vulcan was interrupted, this time by a short bark of laughter. "I don't believe it. You've tried that already remember? You want to get me into bed, Lieutenant? You'll have to try something more original than that. Now, I have a meeting with the Captain, so unless you have some ship's business to discuss, I'll see you on the bridge."

Kes heard his footsteps disappearing down the corridor and thanked the Gods above that he had gone in the other direction. Then she listened intently for Tuvok to leave. There was a moment of silence and then she heard something she never thought she would hear from the Vulcan.

A frustrated sigh.

Somehow that sound affected her, and she felt a strong sense of shame for having so gleefully listened to such a private conversation. The fact that it had taken place in a public hallway did nothing to allay her guilt. She should have walked away. Quickly, she retreated back to the turbolift, and then taking another corridor, wandered aimlessly for a while, lost in thought.

She was concerned for Tuvok. Obviously the argument she had just heard was not strictly a lover's quarrel but just as obviously the Vulcan was attempting to establish a relationship with Commander Chakotay, and his attempt was not proceeding well.

Kes had developed a strong affection for Tuvok; he was her friend as well as her mentor. She liked Commander Chakotay as well, admired his strength of character and enjoyed his friendly humour. When she had first realized the nature of their conversation, she had been shocked and surprised, but she wanted them both to be happy. And now that she'd thought about it, she felt that in spite of their apparent difficulties, they could be good together.

She wished she knew what had happened to make them quarrel. Despite his insistence that the matter was closed, Kes had sensed a certain conflict in Chakotay's emotional aura. It seemed that perhaps the Commander wasn't as willing to walk away from the possible relationship as he had tried to make Tuvok believe. And as for Tuvok himself, he must be determined indeed to persist with the Commander as he was obviously trying to do. She hoped he wouldn't give up.

As she made her way back to the mess hall, Kes wondered if there was any way in which she could help Tuvok.


	6. Chapter 6

Tuvok's frustration continued to grow throughout the day. All the time he was on the bridge, Chakotay only spoke to him when necessary, and then only with a minimum of words and in a very correct and distant manner.

It was a routine shift, simply monitoring the ship's readings, and Tuvok found himself with plenty of time to ponder his situation. What had possessed him to attempt to talk to the Commander in a public hallway? All he knew was that, when he had seen Chakotay, he had been possessed by a sense of urgency. Something in the Commander's manner had seemed to be telling him that he was in danger of losing the Commander's interest. And he did not want that to happen.

As he reviewed all of his encounters with the Commander within the last couple of days, Tuvok could see where he had made his error. Chakotay had stated that they should take the time to allow the relationship to develop, and Tuvok had obviously pre-empted matters when he had suggested they move on to a physical relationship during their 'date'. He had allowed his own needs to supersede Chakotay's.

And there was something to be said for simply spending companionable time together. He had certainly enjoyed talking in an informal setting with the Commander, and would relish the opportunity to do so again. Unfortunately the Commander did not seem inclined to grant him the chance.

He remembered Chakotay's final words to him in the corridor, and was immediately struck with the idea that they very much amounted to a challenge. The problem was how was he going to proceed in developing their relationship in another way if Chakotay would not even talk to him?

With a certain amount of irritation he realised he needed some advice. This galled Tuvok; he did not like the idea of discussing such a private matter with anyone else other than the Commander. However, there was someone on Voyager with whom he felt that he could broach the subject.

In truth, Tuvok considered Captain Janeway a close, personal friend, and he had on occasion discussed personal issues with her. She was also a close friend of Commander Chakotay, and possibly had more knowledge of how to deal with the Commander than he himself obviously possessed. Tuvok decided that the Captain would be the best person to talk to, and immediately sent a request to see her in her Ready Room.

* * *

"So, what can I help you with Tuvok?" Captain Janeway waved her security chief into a chair as she seated herself behind her desk.

"We have known each other for many years now, Captain."

Tuvok gazed steadily at Captain Janeway, and she suddenly realized he was waiting for a reply. "Ah… yes, and they've been good years too, Tuvok," she said after a moments thought.

"I consider you a valued friend, Captain."

Captain Janeway felt ridiculously pleased. Although their friendship was always strong, it was not often that Tuvok acknowledged it, let alone spoke of it. _'In fact_ ,' she thought, _'it's rather strange really. Did he really want to see me just to tell me this?_ ' A frown replaced her smile as an unpleasant thought crossed her mind.

"Uh… that's wonderful to hear, Tuvok. I feel the same way."

"Captain, I wish to speak to you as a friend. I wish to discuss something of a personal nature."

' _Oh. My. God,_ ' the Captain's face froze into a mask of polite inquiry as she waited for Tuvok to continue. When he didn't, she cleared her throat, "Ah… a personal nature, you say?"

"Yes, Captain," Tuvok replied blandly. "It is a matter that has been on my mind for sometime, but recently, events have occurred which have made me realize that I need some… assistance."

Behind her fixed smile, Captain Janeway's heart pumped with what she could only think in dismay was absolute panic.

"Well, Tuvok, I knew that this day would come eventually," she began, and then at Tuvok's raised eyebrow and slight look of surprise, she faltered. Then, irritated, she pulled herself together and continued. "I'm not completely ignorant of Vulcan… customs, you know."

"Captain, I would not have thought…" Tuvok began, but the Captain interrupted him firmly.

"Tuvok, I am pleased… and honoured… that you have come to me for assistance, and I assure you I will do everything I can to help you. Even if it were not my duty as your Captain, it would be my honour, as your friend, to assist you at this time." It was a speech, she had rehearsed quite a few times, in preparation for this event, and she allowed herself a small sigh of relief at having said it so calmly.

Tuvok's eyebrow rose even higher. "Thank you, Captain."

"Well," the Captain smiled warmly. "I'm glad that's sorted out. I suppose we should go to sickbay and talk with the Doctor. I'm afraid you'll need to tell us what to ah… expect."

Tuvok gazed at her blankly. "Sickbay?"

The Captain smiled her best reassuring smile. "Yes. I know that Vulcans don't like to discuss these matters in general, but we are in a unique situation here in the Delta Quadrant. I really feel, I'm afraid I insist, that the Doctor be made fully aware of what may occur."

"Captain," Tuvok replied firmly. "I absolutely refuse to discuss this matter with the Doctor. It was a difficult decision to approach you for advice, and it was only our friendship and that I felt you could assist me, which overcame my qualms. I do not believe that the Doctor could be of any possible assistance."

Captain Janeway's heart sank as she heard this determined speech, and she prepared herself for an argument. "Tuvok, I realise that it is difficult for Vulcans to discuss the Pon Farr, indeed I know that it is in fact, a rule that you should not. However…" she broke off as Tuvok raised a hand.

"Captain, I believe you are labouring under a misapprehension. The personal matter I wish to discuss is not related to the Pon Farr."

There was a long moment of uncomfortable silence.

"It's not?" The Captain finally asked tentatively.

"No… Ma'am."

She could have sworn she detected a hint of snideness in his voice. "Ah… then, I apologise Tuvok."

The Vulcan shifted slightly in his seat. "There is no need, Captain." After another moment of silence, he added generously. "I appreciate your willingness to help, Captain, but it will not be required."

And darn it, if she didn't feel herself blushing. "Yes, well, of course…" she cleared her throat, walked over to the replicator and ordered a glass of water.

"So, Tuvok," she asked as she sat down again. "What was it that you wanted to discuss?"

Tuvok eyed the Captain doubtfully as she sipped from her glass of water. The conversation of the last five minutes had been excruciating, and he was now feeling rather apprehensive about the Captain's ability to provide him with sensible advice. However, in reflection, he felt that he did still need some help, and the Captain was the only person with whom he felt relatively comfortable talking to about a private matter. And there was the fact, that she was also a friend of Commander Chakotay's and could provide a strong insight into his character to consider as well. Tuvok nodded slightly to himself, and recalling the previous confusion, decided to be as clear as possible.

"Captain, I wish to become intimate with Commander Chakotay. I require some advice on how to proceed."

He immediately found himself on the receiving end of a blast of cold water.

"Ha!" the Captain barked and then spluttered and coughed into her hand. At this point, Tuvok reflected that this was obviously one of the rare times when he had made the wrong decision. Particularly when the next words out of the Captain's mouth were a strangled, "Very carefully", which was then followed, unbelievably, by a muffled giggle.

Tuvok calmly rose to his feet. "Perhaps I should return to the bridge."

He watched as the Captain immediately regained her composure and looked up at him apologetically. "I'm terribly sorry about that Tuvok," she had the grace to look ashamed. "Our whole conversation… it was just so… surreal I guess," she stumbled to a halt.

"Indeed."

"I really am sorry, Tuvok. It was unforgivable behaviour. Please sit down."

Tuvok sat.

"So… you said Commander Chakotay?" The Captain paused for a moment and Tuvok nodded his confirmation. "Umm… I wasn't aware… I mean I hadn't noticed…"

"We have only recently begun to 'date'." Tuvok rescued her from her floundering.

"I see. How many dates have you had?"

"One."

"And… ah… how did that go?" The Captain asked tentatively. For someone who wanted her advice, she reflected bitterly, he was not giving her a lot of information.

"We argued." Tuvok frowned. "Or to be strictly accurate, Commander Chakotay argued. I simply listened until he left. Now he refuses to discuss the matter."

Captain Janeway frowned thoughtfully. Chakotay was usually more diplomatic than this sounded. Obviously he was extremely offended about something and it was now, unfortunately, up to her to attempt to pull out of Tuvok what that might be.

"Tuvok, what did you argue about?"

"He wished to proceed slowly. I believe he was offended at my attempt to become involved intimately at the end of our date."

While it was all still slightly confusing, the Captain began to get an idea of what had occurred between her two friends. "Yes, friendship and trust are very important to the Commander, as is respect. I think he needs to feel that his wishes are being respected."

"Yes, I realize the error I made in moving too quickly, but I find it difficult to understand his extreme reaction."

Knowing her security officer as she did, the Captain could imagine what might have happened on this date. As various scenario's crossed her mind a small smirk of amusement crossed her face, and she guiltily pulled herself together and attempted to be as tactful as she could. "I think you should not only think about timing, but also about how you go about things." Now she couldn't stop herself from smirking. "Commander Chakotay often needs careful handling."

"I'm beginning to realize that," Tuvok commented dryly, and the Captain's smile widened. "However, my real difficulty lies in how to proceed. This morning the Commander refused to discuss the matter with me."

Captain Janeway frowned. She felt completely at a loss after hearing Tuvok's words, and was totally stunned that he obviously wished to pursue his attempted relationship with the Commander. She felt the smirk returning to her lips as she reflected on the complete stupidity of this situation. She herself was always uncomfortable discussing romantic relationships, and here she was attempting to advise a Vulcan on his love life. She valiantly suppressed another giggle as she realized that under normal circumstances she would have referred Tuvok to someone far more qualified than her to deal with such a topic… and that person was Commander Chakotay. ' _Hmm, it's tempting,_ ' she thought as she eyed Tuvok, who was gazing at her expectantly.

"Well, ah… did he say anything hopeful at all?" She finally asked, tentatively.

Tuvok thought for a moment. "If you could consider a challenge to find an original method of getting him into bed hopeful, then yes, I believe so."

For a moment, Captain Janeway stared at him blankly. Then she leaned forward over her desk and rested her head on her hands. Tuvok watched with concern as her shoulders shook.

"Captain?"

When she looked up at him, her face was red and her eyes were tearing slightly. "I'm sorry, Tuvok," she gasped. "But I just thought… you see… I could… I could _order_ him to sleep with you." Then her face disappeared in her arms again, and all he could hear were faint snuffling sounds.

It was at this point that Tuvok came to the conclusion that he was wasting his time. The Captain was obviously incapable of giving him any sensible assistance, and really, he reflected, he should have known it would be so. It had always been his belief that such matters should be kept strictly private, and this whole conversation had achieved nothing except to prove him correct in that belief.

He rose to his feet. "Thankyou, Captain," he murmured politely.

When he left the room, her head was still buried in her hands, and her shoulders were still shaking.


	7. Chapter 7

By the mid shift meal, the Captain had recovered enough to return to the bridge, shooting an apologetic look at Tuvok as she passed his station. The Vulcan's expression was placid as he returned her glance, revealing nothing of what thoughts might be running through his mind.

Captain Janeway felt heartily ashamed of herself. It was not often, in fact she could not really remember the last time, that Tuvok asked for assistance in a private matter, and she had failed him utterly. She still did not know what had possessed her to crumble into such undignified hysteria; it could only be the strangeness of the situation that she had found herself in. _But, dammit, I'm a Starfleet Captain,_ she thought irritably. _I'm supposed to be able to deal with strange situations._

She sighed as she sneaked a glance beside her to her First Officer. Chakotay was staring impassively at the viewscreen and she was alarmed to feel the faint swellings of amusement when she remembered the challenge he had apparently delivered to Tuvok. Then she glanced at him again, noticed the faint lines of tension around his eyes, and immediately felt ashamed again. Chakotay was in a difficult position on her ship. He was the bridge between herself and the crew, as well as the original Starfleet crew and the new Maquis members. He had handled all this with great insight and tact, while also performing the First Officer's functional duties. But with all that, she knew he was lonely.

_We're all lonely,_ she reflected bitterly. _But if he can be happy with Tuvok…_ She shook her head slightly as she realised the maudlin direction her thoughts were taking. Well, she would do what she could to help, but first things first, she obviously needed to make Tuvok an apology, and as soon as possible.

As alpha shift left the bridge to go to the mess hall, she remembered that Tuvok was performing a manual check of security systems throughout the ship after the mid shift meal. _Time for some hands on work,_ the Captain decided, _and the perfect opportunity to talk to Tuvok._

* * *

"What's our first stop, Tuvok?"

Tuvok halted his progress down the corridor and turned to face his Captain. "Our first stop, Captain?"

Captain Janeway beamed at him. "Yes, I thought I'd join you for the security check."

_Oh dear,_ Tuvok thought, recognising the determined set of the Captain's chin. He was not sure if he could cope with what he knew was coming. Chakotay had determinedly ignored him all through the meal, and he was still regretting his earlier decision to confide in the Captain. He gazed at her for a moment and then raised one eyebrow slightly. "Of course, Captain. I've decided to perform the jeffries tube checks, covering the five decks around engineering."

Captain Janeway's smile took on a slightly forced quality. "Jeffries tube checks. Right. Well, lead on then."

As Tuvok turned to continue along the corridor to engineering, Captain Janeway eyed him suspiciously. Her suspicion grew when she found herself having to walk faster than normal in order to keep up with Tuvok's long strides.

* * *

By the time they had covered three decks of jeffries tubes, Captain Janeway had still not found the opportunity to talk to Tuvok. He had led her through the tubes at an exhausting pace, and had decided on each deck that they could perform the checks more quickly by separating and doing half each. The Captain's temper was deteriorating rapidly.

When they reached the third junction on the fourth deck they were checking, she determinedly called a halt.

"Captain, if you wish to stop, I can finish the checks alone. I was not expecting assistance anyway."

"Lieutenant Tuvok, this is not a test in efficiency or fitness. We will stop here for a rest, and then we will continue. That's an order."

Tuvok's eyebrow rose, and God she hated it when he did that. "Very well, Captain." And she hated it when he did that calm, patronising thing too.

Recognising that she was not in the best mood to make an apology, the Captain took a deep breath and willed herself to calm down.

"Tuvok, I owe you an apology." There, she'd said it.

"Captain, it is not necessary, I assure you."

"I think it is."

"Very well, I accept your apology, Captain. Thank you."

"I haven't actually made it yet, and I have a feeling that you'd rather avoid it. Or am I mistaken?" She could raise one eyebrow too.

There was a brief moment of silence.

"I did not mean to give you that impression, Captain." Captain Janeway could have sworn he sounded peeved, and she gave a slight smile of victory.

"Now, I'm very sorry about my appalling behaviour earlier. It was extremely tactless and inconsiderate of me. I can't really explain why it happened, but it was unforgivable."

"Please do not concern yourself, Captain. I have not taken offence, I assure you. If that is all, then perhaps…"

"Tuvok," the Captain interrupted sternly. "I think we should continue the discussion we were having earlier."

Tuvok's face became even more impassive than usual, if that were possible. "May I be frank, Captain?"

"Of course, Tuvok," the Captain smiled. "This is a discussion between friends."

Tuvok's eyebrow rose yet again, but he refrained from mentioning that friends did not customarily order their friends to listen to apologies, or participate in conversations that they were obviously reluctant to have. "Very well. I feel that I should have kept the matter private, Captain."

"No Tuvok," the Captain quickly interrupted. "You should go to your friends for help when you feel you need it. It's my fault for…" she grimaced. "Well, I assure you I'm ashamed of myself for my reaction. It was just so unexpected. I hadn't realized that you and Commander Chakotay were interested in each other."

"I am not certain that Commander Chakotay retains that interest."

"I think you'll find he does, Tuvok. From what you told me before, I have a feeling that his reaction is so extreme because he feels quite strongly about the relationship."

Tuvok gazed at her thoughtfully. "I believe you may be right, Captain. However, if that is so, then I have offended him deeply."

"Give him time to calm down," the Captain advised.

"I did that last night, and this morning he would not accept my apology. At the moment he is ignoring me completely, unless he has to talk to me about ship's business."

The Captain thought for a moment. Now that she had finally got him talking, she was surprised at how open Tuvok was being. For an unemotional Vulcan, he seemed to feel very strongly about the situation. She shook her head at the contradiction and then gazed at Tuvok.

"Why do you want this relationship, Tuvok? I mean you are bonded with T'Pel after all."

Tuvok was taken aback by this sudden probing into his own motivations. "Captain, I…" he paused for a moment, while the Captain stared at him steadily. "My bond with T'Pel is almost broken. With the loss of contact we have not been able to sustain it." He forced the sentences out, uncomfortable with revealing such personal information.

"And Chakotay?" The Captain insisted. "Why Chakotay?"

Tuvok frowned at her. "I am attracted to the Commander. He is attracted to me. Why not?"

Captain Janeway was shocked at this almost angry speech, but she did not let it show. "Do you consider him your mate?"

"Yes," Tuvok answered simply, and his face cleared to its usual serene countenance.

"Well," the Captain took a deep breath, surprised at this easy confession. "Then I'm afraid the only advice I can give you, is to persist. I'm sure he'll come round eventually, he just needs time. Don't give up."

"I believe I shall not do so, Captain. Perhaps we should now continue with the security checks?"

Captain Janeway nodded her agreement, and as they continued along the jeffries tube she reflected that Tuvok seemed to have regained his usual self-possession.

She could not say the same for herself.

* * *

Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres gazed at the jeffries tube wall opposite her in complete astonishment. A litany of babble, mainly consisting of the words, 'Chakotay', 'Tuvok' and 'mate', ran chaotically through her mind. Suddenly she took a deep, gasping breath and banged her head back on the wall behind her. The babble ceased.

"By Kahless' balls," she said out loud, for effect. "I don't believe it."

When she had first heard the Captain's and Tuvok's voices in the junction below her, she had made the decision to be as quiet as possible. She wanted to finish the repair she was working on before the end of shift and she just didn't feel like wasting any time. After a moment, she had heard the word 'apology' and realized that something remarkable was happening. Captain Janeway was admitting she had made an error. Grinning gleefully, B'Elanna abandoned work, and any scruples she might have, and began to eavesdrop shamelessly. What she heard next blew her brains away, and when the Captain and Tuvok finally left, they still hadn't returned.

Frowning to herself, she banged her head against the wall once more for good measure.

"Paris to Torres."

Automatically she hit her combadge. "Torres here."

"What are you doing, B'Elanna? You were supposed to meet us ten minutes ago."

"What?"

"Skiing in the holodeck, remember?"

"Oh yeah, sorry."

"Well, are you coming or not? Harry and I are waiting."

"Uh… sure. I'll be there shortly. Torres out."

Forcing herself to concentrate she finished the repair, and then in a daze collected her gear and made her way back to engineering.

* * *

"Lieutenant Torres, are you telling me that you broke your leg by deliberately skiing into a tree?"

The Doctor's voice was incredulous and B'Elanna grimaced in frustration.

"It was _not_ deliberate," she stated firmly, glaring at Harry and Tom who were both trying to smother snorts of amusement. "I was avoiding a squirrel."

Harry and Tom gave up the fight and roared with laughter, clutching at each other in an effort to stay upright.

"A squirrel," repeated the Doctor in his best flat voice.

"Yes," said B'Elanna angrily. "And I don't know who in their right mind programs squirrels into skiing holos. It's obviously very dangerous."

B'Elanna directed a glare at Harry that should have made him burst into flames. He returned the stare for a moment, hiccuped, and then fell back onto Tom in another fit of laughter.

"I don't understand," said the Doctor. "Why didn't you just ski over it?"

"What?" gasped B'Elanna. "That would have killed it!"

The Doctor's raised eyebrow was almost as impressive as Tuvok's.

"Lieutenant Torres, you are the chief engineer on this ship. I would have thought that I would not need to point out to you that a holographic squirrel is not actually alive, and therefore cannot be killed."

B'Elanna flushed a deep fiery red and for a moment struggled to find her voice.

"It's an instinct thing," she finally blurted out.

"Obviously not an instinct from your Klingon side," replied the Doctor, snidely.

A fresh outburst of laughter from Tom and Harry echoed through the sickbay and B'Elanna clenched her hands tightly to her sides.

"Doctor, I think it would be safer if you didn't refer to my Klingon side at the moment."

"Ah, I remind you that I'm a hologram," replied the Doctor. "You do seem to have difficulty understanding the nature of that."

"Oh really?" asked B'Elanna sweetly. "Perhaps I should remind you that I have access to your program. Now if you're quite finished?"

B'Elanna sailed out of the sickbay, head held high, ignoring the fresh outburst of laughter that followed her into the hallway.

* * *

By the time she got back to her quarters the edge had gone from her fury and she was merely seething. The whole thing was Chakotay and Tuvok's fault. If her mind hadn't still been whirling around the idea of them together she would have noticed that squirrel before she had no choice but to slam into a tree.

That whole scene in the sickbay had been embarrassing and infuriating. She'd have to find a way to get back at them as soon as possible, and the Doctor would definitely have to be first. Klingon warrior instinct indeed! She'd show him just what instinct could do.

An evil smirk crossed B'Elanna's face as she collapsed onto her bed. Perhaps the Doctor would have more understanding of instinct, if every time he touched a regenerator he was overcome with the urge to talk about squirrels.

The smirk faded as she stared at the ceiling. She was still slightly dazed. Chakotay and Tuvok. Tuvok considered Chakotay as his mate. B'Elanna understood the implications of that term, perhaps better than anyone not a Vulcan, on the ship. If there was one way in which Vulcans and Klingons could be similar, it was in their understanding of taking a mate. It was a serious matter.

It was easier to imagine Chakotay and Tuvok as mates now that the shock had worn off. In a way, she had to admit that Chakotay could do worse. Tuvok annoyed the hell out of her, but she respected him, and Chakotay deserved a mate worthy of respect. She would expect nothing less for one she considered family.

_Yes,_ she decided. _I definitely approve._ Then, she frowned as she remembered the conversation she had overheard. It seemed that the relationship was not going very well. Tuvok had obviously screwed it up, and Chakotay's problem had always been that he was a stubborn bastard. Sometimes you had to force him to give in, for his own sake. She wondered if Tuvok had what it would take.

She found herself hoping for Chakotay's sake that he would. Chakotay was lonely, hell they were all lonely, but she loved Chakotay. She knew him well enough to know that, given the chance, he could have something good with Tuvok. Tuvok wouldn't place the emotional demands on Chakotay that she knew Seska had. The problem was that he was just such a stubborn bastard that he could throw the opportunity away.

It was obviously her duty to stop him from doing that. She was the closest person to family that he had on the ship, and it was a matter of honour to assist with a mating.

B'Elanna chewed on her bottom lip as she reviewed all the ideas she could think of to achieve the goal she had decided on. None of them would work, the situation had to be handled delicately. Then mischief sparkled in her eyes as she realized that Tuvok himself had given her the clue.


	8. Chapter 8

Two days after his disastrous date with Tuvok, Chakotay had still not relented in his decision to only talk to Tuvok when absolutely necessary. He could admit that he felt a little childish, but he'd given Tuvok a challenge and he was determined to make it as difficult as possible for the Vulcan.

Sometimes he caught himself wondering why he was behaving in this rather strange manner. He was usually more forgiving and diplomatic. He'd also been attracted to Tuvok for quite a long time, never imagining that the Vulcan would ever return his interest and now, when he knew that Tuvok was interested, why was he doing his best to sabotage it? Whenever Chakotay got to that point in his thoughts, he steadfastly squashed the question and buoyed himself up with the idea that Tuvok had to learn an important lesson about human relationships and it was all for the Vulcan's good.

Besides, he was rather curious to see what Tuvok would do next. He'd been quite shocked when he'd realized that Tuvok was not simply going to give up, and even more shocked when Tuvok had tried to talk to him about the situation in a public hallway.

It was quite flattering really and Chakotay decided that after Tuvok had learnt his lesson, he would graciously give in and let Tuvok fuck him stupid. He was sitting on the bridge beside Captain Janeway when this silly thought crossed his mind, and he was hard pressed not to burst into hysterical laughter. As it was a few undignified snorts escaped him, which he quickly suppressed when he saw her eyeing him suspiciously. Luckily she was immediately distracted by an alarm coming from the security station behind them.

"What is it, Tuvok?" asked the Captain, as she stood and faced the station.

"There is a level 4 failure in the security grid on deck 10."

"Level 4?" asked the Captain incredulously. "But that's one of the decks we checked yesterday."

"Yes," agreed Tuvok calmly. "It is, to be exact, one of the areas that you checked, Captain."

The Captain frowned, and then hearing a muffled noise to her right, glanced sharply at her first officer.

"Well," she said, after a moment. "That's incredible. I think this security failure should be investigated very thoroughly, Lieutenant Tuvok. In fact," she added with a bright smile, "it will be necessary for Commander Chakotay to assist you, a level 4 failure will require command level codes to trace how the failure occurred."

There was a moment of tense silence as Tuvok and Chakotay stared at her, and then Chakotay spoke.

"Of course, Captain. After you, Lieutenant."

Captain Janeway's smile became positively glowing as they disappeared into the turbolift.

* * *

"Well, this is rather convenient," muttered Chakotay as he followed Tuvok through the jeffries tubes. It was the first sound that either of them had made, they had ridden the turbolift in silence, and in silence they had made their way to the location of the security failure.

"Convenient, Commander?" asked Tuvok, as he removed the access panel and flipped open his tricorder. "I do not believe a level 4 security failure can be called convenient."

Chakotay glared at the back of Tuvok's head and cursed his Vulcan ears. Anger had been simmering inside him ever since he'd been ordered off the bridge to investigate the failure with Tuvok, and he couldn't suppress the suspicion that he'd somehow been set up. The only thing that had kept him silent up to this point was the fact that he could see that Tuvok was puzzled. _He's probably just a damn good actor,_ thought Chakotay and then flipped open his own tricorder.

"Ok, where's this failure then?" he asked serenely.

"There does not appear to be one," replied Tuvok, equally serene.

"Ha! I knew it," Chakotay snapped his tricorder shut.

"However," continued Tuvok, "there does appear to be something jammed in the circuitry." Then he glanced at Chakotay, surprised. "You knew it?"

"Yes," said Chakotay, his anger rising. "How dare you pull a stunt like this!"

"I beg your pardon, Commander?"

"I'll have to put you on report for this," Chakotay continued in a loud voice. "Let's see, creating a false alarm, reporting a false failure, conspiring against the first officer…"

"Commander Chakotay," interrupted Tuvok firmly. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I wonder if sabotage would be an accurate…" said Chakotay. "Oh, come on Tuvok, you know you've set this whole thing up."

"I see, Commander," said Tuvok, raising his eyebrow. "I assure you that I am as equally puzzled by this as you. If you check the logs, you will see that I received a level 4 failure alert for this location. The fact that there does not seem to be such a failure is a matter of great concern. Either there is an error in the security diagnostic program, or this is an act of sabotage by a person unknown. As I have already mentioned," Tuvok shot a significant look at Chakotay, "there seems to be something jammed in the circuitry, so I believe the latter to be more true. However, it is an extremely strange and incompetent piece of sabotage, I cannot see what possible use this would be to an enemy."

"That's ridiculous," snapped Chakotay. "Why don't you just admit it? And I don't believe for a moment that there's anything in there."

Chakotay gestured at the open panel, and then determined to prove his point, he quickly reached into the circuits.

"Commander!" exclaimed Tuvok.

Chakotay's hand encountered an object, and without thinking he grasped it and pulled. At this point there was a minor explosion. A shower of sparks erupted from the open panel, mainly landing on Tuvok who was facing the panel.

"That is a very dangerous thing to do," Tuvok ended his sentence, and when Chakotay glanced at him he saw a large burn on the Vulcan's cheek and his hair was smouldering slightly.

He looked down at the item in his hand. "It's a holo chip."

The lights in the jeffries tube went out.

"Sorry," said Chakotay, rather embarrassed.

"Janeway to Commander Chakotay."

Chakotay fumbled in the complete darkness dropping the holo chip. Finally, after smacking Tuvok on the leg, he hit his combadge.

"Chakotay here."

"What's going on, Commander? Ops just reported a power failure in your jeffries tube."

"That would be correct, Captain," replied Chakotay. "Recommend you send a repair team down here immediately. I'll make a full report to you shortly. Um… and Lieutenant Tuvok needs to report to the sickbay."

There was a short silence. "Very well, Commander," said the Captain finally. "A full report as soon as possible. Janeway out."

"Commander, I do not need to go to sickbay," Tuvok's voice came out of the darkness.

"I'm afraid you do, and that's an order," said Chakotay firmly, he hit his combadge again. "Computer, transport Lieutenant Tuvok to sickbay and activate the EMH."

Before Tuvok could speak again, Chakotay was alone in the jeffries tube. He felt around for the holo chip and, once he found it, began the long crawl back, contemplating what the Captain would think of this very strange act of sabotage.

* * *

She didn't think much. She stared at the holo chip in Chakotay's hand for a full minute.

"A… skiing program?" she said. "That's… strange. Very strange."

"Perhaps it was an accident," said Chakotay lamely.

"Hmph," snorted the Captain, and then she looked at Chakotay sharply. "Speaking of accidents, why did Tuvok have to go to the sickbay?"

"Oh," said Chakotay. "Minor burns. When I… ah… removed the chip, there was a small explosion. Tuvok got in the way."

"I see," said the Captain, still staring at him. "Anyway, we need some clues. Who wrote the program?"

"It says, Ensign Harry Kim."

"Right," she hit her combadge. "Janeway to Ensign Kim. Ensign, please come to my ready room immediately."

"On my way, Captain."

When Harry Kim entered the ready room, he immediately spotted the holo chip in Chakotay's hand and looked at him curiously.

"Ensign," said the Captain. "Is this chip yours?"

Harry took the chip and examined it. "Yes, it is," he replied. "I noticed it was missing earlier today."

"I see," said the Captain. "So you have no idea how it got into the circuitry in jeffries Tube 14?"

"Well, no," replied Harry. "How on earth did it get there?"

"That's what we're trying to find out," said the Captain. "Very well, we'll keep this matter quiet for the time being, but if there are any more strange incidents like this, I want to know about them immediately. Dismissed."

As Chakotay and Harry left the ready room, Chakotay noticed Harry examining the chip closely.

"What's up?"

"Oh, it's completely ruined," said Harry sadly. "Won't be able to use it again, and my favourite squirrel was in that program."

_Squirrel?_ thought Chakotay. _In a skiing program?_

* * *

Tuvok materialized in sickbay, still in the crouching position he'd been in while in the jeffries tube. One of the things that always irritated him about emergency beam outs was that one invariably turned up in the new location in an undignified position. He stood up quickly to face the Doctor, who was already talking.

"…not exactly a full emergency by the look of it, although your hair does appear to be burning. This should fix it."

The Doctor immediately started slapping Tuvok in the head and the Vulcan gave a slight long-suffering sigh.

"I think it's all right now, Doctor," came Kes' gentle voice.

"Yes, I think you're right," said the Doctor peering closely at Tuvok's head. "Now that seems to be only a minor burn. A regenerator set at Level 3 should heal it quickly. If you'd like to take care of that Kes, I'll get back to those samples I was testing."

"Of course, Doctor," Kes smiled warmly at Tuvok and waved him towards a biobed. She picked up a regenerator, checked its setting and began to heal the burn.

Tuvok could already feel the tingling sensation of regeneration on his face, but the slight sensation was not enough to distract his thoughts from the strange incident he had just experienced. In all his years as a Starfleet security officer he had never seen such an odd and useless work of sabotage and the mystery of it niggled at him.

But what disturbed him the most about the situation was that Commander Chakotay appeared to believe that Tuvok had created the whole scenario in order to further his stalled relationship with the Commander. Tuvok knew that he hadn't handled his courtship of the Commander in the best manner, but he was certainly not so out of his depth that he would place the ship's security, and it appeared himself, in danger in order to seduce the Commander. Besides, the method was very crude.

"That was Commander Chakotay who requested the beam out, wasn't it?" The silence was finally broken by Kes' soft voice.

"Yes," replied Tuvok. "We were investigating a security failure in one of the jeffries tubes. There was a small explosion."

"I see," said Kes with a bright smile. "The Commander sounded rather concerned, I thought."

Tuvok's eyebrow rose in slight surprise. "As you can see, I do not think there was any need for concern. The injury was only slight."

"Yes," said Kes, with another bright smile. "But when someone a person cares about is injured, then that person is of course going to feel concerned."

Alarm bells immediately rang in Tuvok's head, and under the full wattage of one of Kes' brightest smiles, he began to feel slightly trapped.

"Indeed," he said as repressively as he could.

The next sentence out of Kes' mouth confirmed his suspicion that she somehow knew of his attempted relationship with Commander Chakotay.

"I'm sorry if you think I'm being intrusive, Tuvok, but I just wanted to say that you shouldn't give up."

"If you are finished," said Tuvok, determinedly ignoring Kes' statement, "I must make my report to the Captain."

Another brilliant smile was beamed at him. "I've still got to fix your hair," said Kes as she adjusted the regenerator. "It's all patchy. You wouldn't want the Commander to see you like that, would you?"

"Kes," said Tuvok with an air of surrender. "I believe you have reached a conclusion that is probably inaccurate."

Now Kes looked contrite. "I'm sorry, Tuvok. I have a confession to make. I heard you the other morning talking with the Commander, so I know I haven't jumped to the wrong conclusion. I'm your friend, Tuvok, and I'd like to help you if I can."

This was rapidly turning into one of the strangest and most humiliating days he'd ever experienced, Tuvok decided, as he once more found himself the target of one of Kes' killer smiles.

"Thank you, Kes," he said, taking refuge in calm politeness. "I do not believe that I require any assistance. I would also appreciate it if you would forget what you heard."

"Oh no, Tuvok," Kes immediately replied. "Please don't give up like that. I know that Commander Chakotay does have feelings for you. I'm sure you can work it out."

"Kes, you are being melodramatic," said Tuvok, as repressively as he could. "There is really nothing to be concerned about, and now I really must report to the Captain."

He was off the biobed and out the door before Kes could say another word.

* * *

The doctor watched as Kes put away the regenerator and left the sickbay, careful not to let her see his scrutiny. It was really amazing, he reflected, how much he had learnt about the crew since he had written the improved hearing subroutine for his program.

At first his ethics subroutine had hindered him slightly, but in the end he had decided that as he was solely responsible for the health and welfare of the crew, and was also trapped in the sickbay, unable to observe the crew in any other environment, that any means he could use to improve his knowledge was appropriate.

The results of his research had been astounding. In one week he had learnt more about the crew than he had in the entire year before. He now knew, for instance, that the reason Ensign Topple often needed deep scratches regenerated on his back, was not because he kept falling into a rose bush in the holographic park, but because Jenny Delaney had longer than regulation fingernails. Then there was the matter of Lieutenant Carey and the Klingon pain stick. He had not seen the results of that incident, the Lieutenant had not availed himself of the Doctor's services, and the Doctor would never have known of it, if he hadn't extended his hearing range beyond the confines of sickbay.

But today he had heard the most interesting piece of information for the entire week. It seemed that Lieutenant Tuvok and Commander Chakotay were involved in some sort of liaison. The doctor had always been fascinated by both men. While the Lieutenant often annoyed him, Vulcans were always interesting to observe, and there were not many on Voyager and none of them had a mate. Until now.

Then there was the Commander, his primitive spirituality had always intrigued the Doctor, and the idea of these two subjects involved in a mating bond was very exciting. He would have the chance to observe it first hand, and the paper he could write about Human/Vulcan mating relationships would be the most detailed ever.

The doctor rubbed his hands together in glee. He would begin his study immediately; he could not afford to waste a minute. Then he frowned as he remembered the conversation he had overheard. It seemed that the relationship was at risk of being over, before it really even began. Well, the Doctor decided, he'd keep close watch, and if it looked like the subjects were not behaving, then for the advancement of science, he would have to intervene.


	9. Chapter 9

Chakotay did not see Tuvok again until the next day when he saw him, from a distance, in the mess hall at breakfast. The previous day, Tuvok had not reappeared on the bridge until after Chakotay's shift had finished, but the Captain had informed him that Tuvok had reported that he was no further in his investigation of the strange sabotage attempt. The Captain was inclined to see it as a rather lame joke, but insisted that they keep a sharp lookout for any further attempts.

Chakotay had not slept well. All night he had been suffering with a rather strong feeling of guilt. What on earth had possessed him to accuse Tuvok of attempting to set him up for a forced meeting? He'd been so quick to condemn Tuvok for trying to make a fool of him, and instead had made a complete fool of himself all on his own, not to mention injuring Tuvok in the process.

Chakotay knew himself well enough to know that he had an absolute horror of being made to look a fool, and it had happened far too often in recent years for him to ever be able to trust easily. First had been his recruitment of Tom Paris into the Maquis, what a disaster that had been. Then he'd recruited Seska and Tuvok and both of them had turned out to be spies. Out of the two of them, Tuvok's betrayal had hurt him the most. Seska had always been passionate about the cause, but Tuvok had fought for the Maquis with cool, calm logic, and it had made Chakotay feel secure that the Maquis were right to do what they were doing.

He thought he had gotten over that in the last year, but his behaviour on the previous day had shown him that he was still too quick to distrust the Vulcan. Perhaps that was why he had been so affronted when Tuvok had attempted to rush the intimacy of their relationship.

All in all, Chakotay now felt even more confused about what he wanted from Tuvok. He was still attracted to him, but could he ever learn to trust him? By the time he finished his meal and got to the bridge, he'd decided that the best thing to do would be just to leave the whole mess alone. It was for the best if nothing happened between him and Tuvok; the whole thing was just too difficult. The problem was he still owed Tuvok an apology and an explanation and he would have to do both as soon as possible.

* * *

His opportunity came sooner than he'd thought it would. Chakotay had barely finished his checks and sat down next to the Captain, when B'Elanna commed from engineering.

"Commander, I'm running some diagnostics about that security failure yesterday, and I need to show you and Lieutenant Tuvok the results I've gotten so far. Could you both come down to engineering?"

Chakotay glanced at the Captain, who nodded her agreement, and then stood and walked back to the security station, where Tuvok was gazing at him enigmatically.

"We're on our way, B'Elanna. Chakotay out," he said and followed Tuvok into the turbolift.

Tuvok directed the lift to engineering and then they stood side by side in silence. Chakotay fidgeted slightly as tension flooded into his body, but he decided that it was better to get it over with and turned to Tuvok.

"Lieutenant," he said firmly. "I believe I owe you an apology for yesterday. I'm afraid I jumped to some conclusions which were completely unwarranted."

"Thank you, Commander," replied Tuvok. "I must assure you that I would never take advantage of a ship related matter to…"

"Good, that's good," Chakotay interrupted quickly in slight panic, but then he steeled his nerves. "Um… about that. I think it would be best, Tuvok, if we just forgot the whole thing. I apologise if I have been rude to you in any way about it, but I would really prefer it if we just forgot about it."

Tuvok had turned to face him and was now looking down at Chakotay with a slight frown. Chakotay found himself feeling slightly intimidated by the Vulcan's close proximity and height, and flushed in annoyance.

"Chakotay," began Tuvok but he was immediately interrupted by a slight shudder in the turbolift. They both glanced around in alarm as the lights flickered, and then stared at each other in consternation as the lift came to a halt and the lights went out, leaving only the dim glow of the emergency lighting.

"I don't believe this," said Chakotay and hit his combadge. "Chakotay to engineering. B'Elanna what is going on? The turbolift I'm in has just lost power."

"I know, Commander," came B'Elanna's voice. "There's a slight problem, I'm working on it now. Should be all right in a few minutes. Torres out."

"Great," muttered Chakotay. "This better not be another one of those strange sabotage attempts."

"Chakotay," said Tuvok calmly. "May I ask why you prefer to forget our relationship, or to be exact, our attempt to have one?"

Chakotay stared at Tuvok in shock. "Lieutenant I don't believe this is the appropriate time to discuss this. We're stuck in the turbolift."

"I am aware of that," replied Tuvok. "However, all we can do is wait for the turbolift to be repaired."

"Well, I suppose you're right," agreed Chakotay reluctantly. "Right, well, we haven't exactly got off to a good start, and I've come to realize… well, that is… oh damnit, I have a problem trusting you completely, and a relationship without trust is a relationship not worth having."

Tuvok raised an eyebrow. "You have difficulty trusting me," he stated in a flat voice. "What exactly do you fear I would do to betray your trust?"

Chakotay was speechless. _That's the problem with Vulcans,_ he thought, _they throw that impeccable logic at you and suddenly you don't know what you were talking about._

"I hadn't actually thought that far," he finally admitted sullenly. Then he brightened as an idea came to him. "Well, you might have an affair, and any relationship I had would have to be strictly monogamous."

Chakotay thought for a moment that Tuvok's mouth twitched slightly but in the dim light he couldn't be sure, and when the Vulcan spoke again it was in his usual flat tones.

"I assure you Commander, that Vulcans are a strictly monogamous species. Once we are bonded, whether it is a mating bond or a Pon Farr bond, we only feel the need for our mate, until the bond is broken. In fact, Vulcans are more successful at monogamous relationships than most humanoid species, including your own."

Chakotay was again shocked. He could not believe that Tuvok had just told him so much about the Vulcans secretive mating habits. He was also feeling extremely silly, and that feeling was starting to make him angry.

"Well, thank you for that explanation, Tuvok," he finally said. "However I still think it would be better…"

He broke off in consternation as Tuvok suddenly stepped close to him and took his hand.

"Do you truly feel that you cannot trust me?" Tuvok asked him. "If that is so, then I must earn your trust. Will you give me the chance to do so?"

Chakotay's heart pounded in sudden excitement and fright and he quickly pulled his hand away.

"What on earth is happening with this lift?" he said breathlessly and then hit his combadge. "Chakotay to Torres. What's going on there?"

"Still working on it, Commander. Few more minutes. Torres out."

Tuvok was still standing close to him and Chakotay took a swift step backwards.

"Commander…"

"I'm beginning to wonder if there is anything actually wrong with this lift," said Chakotay frowning. "B'Elanna sounded too nervous."

"Chakotay…"

"I have a feeling I've found our saboteur," Chakotay muttered to himself, still frowning.

"Commander Chakotay!"

"We'd better find our own way out of here," said Chakotay, and he looked up at the ceiling.

"Chakotay, you are avoiding my question," said Tuvok, with just a hint of frustration in his voice.

"No, I'm not," said Chakotay, and Tuvok's eyebrow almost disappeared over his head. "I'm choosing not to answer it. Now, ship's business comes first. We need to get out of this lift."

Tuvok's frustration grew at this response from Chakotay. He was trying his best to follow the Commander's demands but he was beginning to feel that Chakotay was always changing the rules. He couldn't help wondering why, if Chakotay was really attracted to him, was he so determined to make it so difficult?

"Very well," he said. "I agree ship's business comes first. Will you agree to talk about this at a later time, perhaps over dinner tonight?"

Chakotay was tempted to say no immediately but found himself hesitating. He remembered the way he'd felt when Tuvok had held his hand earlier, and there was still that mind-blowing kiss to consider as well. He couldn't be afraid to trust someone forever, or he would be alone all his life. Still, he could be careful.

"Ok," he agreed, "but in the mess hall. Now can you hoist me up and I'll get the top panel off."

Tuvok nodded and knelt down on one knee, and Chakotay immediately realized with a kind of delicious horror that he was about to be as physically close to Tuvok as he had been when they had kissed. He climbed up onto Tuvok's shoulders extremely thankful that the Vulcan could not see his flushed face.

Chakotay reached up and removed the panel and then gripped the sides of the opening, ready to haul himself through. His combadge chirped.

"Commander Chakotay, this is Lieutenant Carey in engineering. I've just discovered that the power to your turbolift has been turned off. I can see no reason for this, so I shall restore power immediately. My apologies, Carey out."

"Wait," said Chakotay frantically. "Be aware…"

Before he could move, the lights came up and the turbolift moved. They both immediately lost their balance and toppled to the floor, Chakotay landing heavily on Tuvok, who had fallen at an awkward angle.

He scrambled up as quickly as possible and then stared down at Tuvok in concern.

"Are you all right?"

Tuvok sighed wearily. "No, Commander. I appear to have broken my ankle."


	10. Chapter 10

When Lieutenant Carey began his shift in engineering he immediately realized that his superior was in a strange mood. B'Elanna Torres seemed extremely distracted and her temper was even worse than usual so that everyone in the section was keeping well away from her station.

He watched her surreptitiously for a few moments and frowned in puzzlement when he heard her muttering to herself.

"…hopeless… how many times am I going to have to do this… damned Vulcans… Chakotay is an idiot sometimes… why doesn't he get _on_ with it…"

Obviously she was upset about something and Lieutenant Carey quickly checked through his own board to ensure that nothing could be blamed on him. He frowned again as he noticed the state of the turbolifts, one of them was stalled with the power cut off, but when he checked again, its controls were routed through B'Elanna's station.

Then, B'Elanna was called to the bridge. Carey saw her frown and then quickly glance around engineering and he was astonished when she almost seemed to creep out of the section.

Alive with curiosity, he wandered over to her board and found that indeed she had cut off power to one of the turbolifts. Obviously something was amiss with it, so he ran a quick diagnostic but found nothing wrong. He shrugged; B'Elanna had it offline for some reason he supposed. Then he noticed the com signals of the occupants.

Commander Chakotay and Lieutenant Tuvok.

Immediately, Carey was worried. He could see no good reason for the lift to be stopped and it looked suspiciously like B'Elanna had been holding them there deliberately. And now of course she wasn't there and as the next in command he was in charge. If there was trouble later and Commander Chakotay found out that Carey had known about this, he would be in for a share of B'Elanna's blame.

Carey made an instant decision. There was no way he was going to let that happen. He made a quick announcement to Commander Chakotay and re-routed the power back to the lift.

"What the hell are you doing?" B'Elanna's voice hissed behind him.

"Lieutenant Torres," Carey babbled nervously. "I thought you were on the bridge."

"The Captain commed me, they didn't need me after all," said B'Elanna, and then she frowned. "Why am I explaining myself to you? What were you doing at my station?"

"One of the turbolifts…"

Before he could finish, B'Elanna had shoved him out of the way and was looking at her board.

"Damn, you restored the power," she glared at him.

"Yes, I did," Carey finally found his nerve. "There was nothing wrong with that lift, why did you have it stopped?"

"There was an intermittent power surge," B'Elanna was looking at him intently. "I had to take it offline, but the diagnostic showed nothing wrong."

"Oh," said Carey.

"Oh damn!" exclaimed B'Elanna, looking at her board again.

"What?"

"There's just been an emergency medical beamout from the lift. Lieutenant Tuvok. Did you warn them you were restoring the power?"

"Yes," said Carey, his heart sinking. Then he looked at B'Elanna and saw that she was smiling, and he swallowed nervously.

"There must have been another power surge," she said triumphantly.

Carey found himself returning her smile. "Oh, yes."

"Lieutenant Torres, I'd like to see you in your office immediately."

Both of them jumped at the softly menacing voice behind them, and they turned to find Commander Chakotay standing in the entrance of engineering. Carey swallowed nervously again. There was a gleam in the Commander's eye that was frankly terrifying.

B'Elanna fidgeted for a moment beside him and then nodded. "Of course, Commander," she said with what Carey knew was false confidence.

He watched them walk up the small set of steps to B'Elanna's tiny office and then quickly made his way to the spot that everyone in engineering knew was the prime location for listening in on any conversation in that office. He was going to find out what this was about if it killed him.

The Commander's first statement astounded him and he raised his eyebrows in astonishment.

"Know anything about skiing holoprograms, B'Elanna?"

"Well, Harry has one," his Chief answered nonchalantly.

"Correction, had one," the Commander replied. "Yesterday it was found jammed into the circuitry in jeffries tube 14, which as you know is on this deck. I'd like you to explain to me how it got there, and before you answer, think very carefully."

There was a long moment of silence.

"Oh, all right, I put it there," Carey was astonished to hear B'Elanna say. "But I had a very good reason."

"Well, I'm dying to hear it," said the Commander in an icy voice that sent shivers down Carey's spine. "Would it be, by any chance, the same reason that you cut off the power to the turbolift I was just in?"

Carey heard B'Elanna laugh nervously. "Strangely enough, it is."

"Let's hear it then."

The next thing Carey heard amazed him so much that he almost fell over into the storage box next to him.

"Okay, Chakotay. I know all about the problems you've been having in your relationship with Tuvok. I was just trying to help out."

There was another long moment of silence, and Carey wished desperately that he could see the Commander's face.

When the Commander finally spoke, Carey cringed at the serene politeness of his tone. B'Elanna was in for it, for sure.

"What the hell makes you think I'm having a relationship with Tuvok?"

"Well, I sort of… ah… accidentally… um… overheard Tuvok talking about it."

" _Tuvok_ talking about it?" Carey could hear his own astonishment echoed in the Commander's voice. "With whom?"

"The Captain," B'Elanna continued quickly. "He said he considered you as his mate, Chakotay. Do you realize how important that is? Then he said you would only talk to him if it was ship's business, so I created some ship's business. I just wanted to help. You throw good things away sometimes out of stubbornness, Chakotay, you know you do. And this is a good thing. Chakotay, I think…"

"Lieutenant Torres," Chakotay's voice was quiet but it cut through the air and B'Elanna's words like a knife. "Do you mean to tell me that you perpetrated acts of sabotage on this ship in order to interfere in something that is none of your business?"

"I wouldn't exactly call them acts of sabotage," said B'Elanna sullenly.

"Oh, what would you call them? You deliberately created failures in the ship's systems, and you also, twice, caused an injury to another crewmember. Lieutenant Tuvok is in sickbay with a broken ankle. Yesterday he was in sickbay with burns on his face."

"Well, if you'd just stayed still and talked like you were supposed to," B'Elanna sounded personally affronted and Carey couldn't help smiling at her nerve.

"That's enough," Chakotay snapped out. "I'm putting you on report and your replicator rations are cut for two weeks. And seeing as you obviously have too much time on your hands I want a Level 10 diagnostic performed on all security systems."

"I'll get right on it," said B'Elanna with a sigh.

"Two more things," Chakotay continued. "First, I shudder to think what type of literature you read. I would have thought you could think up something more original than trapping us in a turbolift. So I want a full check performed on the turbolifts as well."

Carey heard B'Elanna groan.

"Manually," added Chakotay. "Just be thankful that I'm not telling the Captain about this."

"What's the second thing?" B'Elanna asked nervously.

"If you ever, and I mean ever, interfere in my life again, I will demote you to Neelix's kitchen hand. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Sir."

Carey quickly scuffled away as he heard the Commander exit the office and leave engineering.

What an amazing and crazy thing he had just heard! Commander Chakotay and Lieutenant Tuvok. He just couldn't believe it, but then he realized with a small thrill of excitement that the Commander had not actually denied it. He couldn't wait to spread this juicy piece of news.

"Lieutenant Carey," he turned to find B'Elanna standing behind him.

"Yes, Chief?"

"I believe you have some advanced expertise with the turbolift systems. I require your assistance with a manual check of all turbolifts on the ship. We'll be starting at 1500 hours. Don't be late."

She smiled sweetly at him and then walked away.


	11. Chapter 11

Once again Tuvok beamed into sickbay in what he could only consider as another undignified position. This time he was sprawled on the floor, and both the Doctor and Kes knelt beside him as he appeared.

"So we have the pleasure of your company once again, Lieutenant," pronounced the Doctor. "Are you trying to break the record for the most visits to sickbay in a week?"

"No, Doctor, I am not," said Tuvok in his most repressive manner.

"Just as well," replied the Doctor. "I don't think anyone can surpass Lieutenant Paris in that department. So, what has Commander Chakotay done to you this time?"

"Doctor," reproved Kes softly, and handed him a tricorder.

"A broken ankle," said the Doctor. "How did you manage that in a turbolift?"

"The lift moved."

"Oh," the Doctor eyed Tuvok carefully. "Well, it's a clean break. A bone regenerator set at Level 7 should do the trick. Kes, can you get one please?"

"Of course, Doctor."

She got up to go to the trolley and the Doctor leaned closer to Tuvok.

"How are things going with Commander Chakotay?" he asked quietly.

"I beg your pardon, Doctor?" asked Tuvok.

"Well, I couldn't help overhearing yesterday when you and Kes were talking."

Tuvok closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them again the Doctor was gazing at him expectantly. He reflected, with a slight tinge of bitterness, that it was obviously impossible to have any type of private life on Voyager.

"I see," he said, resigned.

Kes returned and handed the doctor the regenerator.

"Did you say you overheard us Doctor? I didn't think you were close enough."

"Oh... um… I must have been closer than you thought," said the Doctor, and then he turned back to Tuvok. He set the regenerator and began to run it along Tuvok's ankle.

"May I offer you some advice?" he asked.

Tuvok sighed. Advice from a hologram. Well, he probably couldn't avoid it anyway.

"If you must," he finally said.

"When entering a new situation I find it's always best to research as thoroughly as I can beforehand. The best method of learning is often observation. If you are having difficulty establishing a relationship with Commander Chakotay, perhaps you need to alter your thinking to accommodate the fact that he is a squirrel. So, I would recommend observing someone who is very familiar with squirrel mating behaviour."

The Doctor finished his lecture and looked up from his work. He frowned when he saw that Tuvok seemed puzzled and Kes was looking at him in incredulous astonishment.

"What is it?" he asked.

After a moment of silence, Kes finally spoke.

"Doctor, is anything wrong? Why are you talking about squirrels?"

"Squirrels?" exclaimed the Doctor, now equally astonished. "I'm not talking about squirrels. Perhaps we had better check your ears, Kes. Now as I was saying, observing an expert in squirrel behaviour would be of great use to you, and I hate to say it, but I believe that Tom Paris would be the best squirrel to observe. He seems to spend most of his time practicing techniques in romancing squirrels…"

He broke off as he realized that Kes was now giggling quietly behind her hand.

"Doctor," said Tuvok. "Kes is correct, you have been talking about squirrels. I believe there may be an error in your program."

"I am _not_ talking about squirrels," exclaimed the Doctor irritably. "Why do you keep insisting I am? Oh, I see, I am surprised at both of you, taking part in such a childish joke. I'm trying to offer you some help in your pursuit of a relationship with a fine squirrel like Commander Chakotay and this is the thanks I get."

He stood up in a huff and handed the regenerator to Kes.

"Your ankle is completely healed, Lieutenant Tuvok," he said. "You may leave as soon as you wish."

Tuvok stood and gazed at the Doctor. For a moment he considered checking the Doctor's program himself, but as he took in the haughty look on the Doctor's face, he decided that someone else would notice the problem eventually, and perhaps they would even report it. He could tell by the mischief sparkling in her eyes that it wouldn't be Kes.

"Thank you, Doctor," said Tuvok, and left the sickbay.

* * *

When Tuvok got back to the bridge, Commander Chakotay was already seated in his chair beside the Captain, and Tuvok could tell, even without seeing his face, that the Commander was seething with anger.

As he took his place at his station the Captain swivelled around in her chair and grimaced at him. He raised one eyebrow in a polite enquiry but she shook her head and turned back to the viewscreen. Then Tuvok noticed the Commander glance quickly at the Captain and his expression did not bode well.

A few minutes later, a message came through on his board from the First Officer's station.

_Unable to attend dinner this evening._

Tuvok, after careful consideration, sent back his own message.

_May I inquire as to why?_

Within seconds he had a reply.

_No you may not. Although, you could always ask the Captain her opinion._

_Ah_ , thought Tuvok, and sent another message.

_I talked with the Captain privately, as a friend. I am very surprised that she told you of it. She should not have done so._

The reply came quickly again.

_She did not mention it to me. Obviously you were not private enough._

Enlightenment came to Tuvok instantly.

_Lieutenant Torres?_

_Exactly_ , was the response on his board.

Tuvok considered carefully once more and then sent another query.

_Is this the reason that you are unable to attend dinner?_

It was a few minutes before he received a reply.

_I believe we have entertained the ship quite enough_.

After his last visit to sickbay, Tuvok could only agree. Certainly for them to dine in the mess hall now would be to court disaster.

_Perhaps if we were to dine privately?_

This time there was an even longer passage of time, until the response finally came.

_Perhaps we should have a breathing space, and then start over._

Tuvok found himself quite relieved at this response. After the events of the last two days, he felt the need for some time himself. He needed time to reflect on his own motivations and his next course of action. In the last couple of days he had occasionally wondered why he was so determined to pursue the Commander after so much discouragement. He had told the Captain that he considered Chakotay his mate, and even as he'd said the words, he'd surprised himself. Now he discovered that he was already experiencing the sense of possession that Vulcans had for their mates, and he knew he was heading for disaster if he could not somehow sort things out with Chakotay.

He would have to be very careful in how he proceeded next. Tuvok reluctantly reflected that perhaps the Doctor's advice, squirrels aside, could be useful. Certainly his first attempt at courting the Commander had not turned out well. Lieutenant Paris was definitely experienced in romantic liaisons with humans, and any other species he could find, and Tuvok credited the Lieutenant with more sense than anyone would guess. It was, after all, the Lieutenant who had independently seen the potential of the Commander as Tuvok's mate.

Finally, Tuvok sent a reply.

_Agreed._


	12. Chapter 12

For the next few days Lieutenant Tuvok and Commander Chakotay behaved exactly as they had for the last year, strictly as fellow officers should. Both of them desperately hoped that there would be no more interference from other crew members, but realized by the end of the first day that the most they could hope for was that everyone would eventually lose interest.

It seemed that the news was spreading through the ship. Nobody said anything to either of them, but whenever they were in the same room together, they could feel the curious eyes burning into them, and every day there were more of them.

Chakotay became tenser almost every minute; the whole situation was becoming extremely humiliating. At the same time he could not help feeling an odd disappointment that Tuvok had taken him so literally. Whenever he saw Tuvok, the Vulcan gave no indication of the attraction he claimed to feel. On the one hand, he knew that Tuvok was probably trying to prove that Chakotay could trust him to respect his wishes, and he appreciated that effort. However, on the other hand, the memory of their one passionate kiss was always in his mind and he was impatient to find out if they could achieve that passion again.

Then he noticed that Tuvok seemed to be spending a lot of time watching Tom Paris.

* * *

Tuvok's week had been both frustrating and fascinating. He was constantly aware that some crewmembers were excitedly observing himself and Commander Chakotay, and the knowledge chafed at his deep-seated need for privacy. He bore it stoically however, but was concerned that the Commander was having an increasingly difficult time dealing with the scrutiny. He could only hope that the Commander would not lay the blame for the situation at his door.

It was also disappointing that he could not be with the one he now considered as his mate. How he had come to the conclusion that Chakotay was his mate in the midst of all the confusion was still a mystery to him. Obviously, the attraction that he felt for the Commander was a lot stronger than he had previously thought.

The fascination came from his careful observation of Lieutenant Paris. Tuvok took particular care that no one would become aware of his scrutiny, and the Lieutenant was a difficult person to keep track of, but even with less observation time than he would have liked, Tuvok was amazed at the amount of relationships that the Lieutenant was able to maintain.

However, he also realized that the Lieutenant was perhaps not the best subject to observe. The Commander had mentioned the issues of trust and fidelity and Tuvok could not see that the Lieutenant even knew what the words meant.

In the end he decided that the best course of action was to simply wait for a suitable period of 'breathing space' and then invite the Commander to dinner again. This time, however, he would be very careful to respect the Commander's wishes. He could only hope that nothing else would go wrong in the meantime.

* * *

By the end of the week, Kes was becoming very worried. She did not have the courage to speak to Tuvok again, but she was feeling increasingly concerned for his future happiness.

Tuvok and Commander Chakotay didn't seem to be spending any time together; she suspected that Tuvok had seen more of Tom Paris in the last few days than he had the Commander. Then, yesterday, she had been standing beside Chakotay in the mess hall when she had suddenly felt overwhelming waves of anger and hurt coming off the man. She'd quickly scanned the room and had discovered that Tuvok had entered the mess hall and was standing with Harry and Tom at the food counter.

She couldn't see any reason for the emotions that she was sensing in Chakotay, but she knew that they were definitely directed at Tuvok. It was becoming increasingly important to her to see them both happy, and she knew that if they could ever get beyond whatever problem they were having, that they would be happy.

Well, she decided, she wasn't going to let them throw away their chance. She'd find some way of getting them together if it was the last thing she ever did.

Sitting in Neelix's quarters, waiting for him to finish up the last meal of the day, Kes wracked her mind for ideas on how to accomplish her goal. She knew that she could probably ask Neelix for help, but deep down she wanted to do this herself.

She glanced around the room for any inspiration and was completely overjoyed when she immediately found it. At the top of Neelix's shelves was an innocent looking wooden box, but she knew that it contained a powerful Talaxian aphrodisiac. A dreamy smile crossed her face as she remembered the night that Neelix had introduced her to it. It would really be just the thing.

Immediately, she crossed the room, took down the box and opened it. There was plenty left so she put enough of the powder for two people into a small container, and then returned the box to the exact same spot.

Now all that was left was to decide when to use it. As soon as possible, and at the end of their shift would be the best time and Kes remembered that she was rostered to help Neelix in the kitchen for the last meal, on the very next day.

Consequently the next day she took the small container with her to the mess hall. It was a simple matter to make sure that she served both the Commander and Tuvok, and she carefully administered an equal share of the powder into their beverages.

She watched them closely and felt a thrill of excitement when she saw them both empty their cups. Then the Commander left the mess hall, Tuvok left a few minutes later, and Kes was left to wonder how long it would take to work.

* * *

Tuvok returned to his quarters deep in thought. His observation of Lieutenant Paris had not been particularly productive and, as he'd already decided that he would approach Commander Chakotay again, the only thing left to consider was how much of a 'breathing space' was appropriate.

The problem was that he didn't know how much time Commander Chakotay considered necessary. An odd sense of restlessness stole over Tuvok and he quickly decided that the best way to find out was to ask the Commander himself.

A few minutes later he reached Chakotay's door and chimed. The door opened instantly and without thinking he quickly stepped inside. He glanced around the room and eventually saw the Commander standing beside the viewport.

"What are you doing here, Lieutenant?"

It was not the most promising welcome, but again a wave of restlessness washed over Tuvok and he took a couple of steps forward.

"I wish to know how long you wish this 'breathing space' to last," he said, and was slightly surprised at himself for his abruptness.

Chakotay turned to face him and Tuvok saw him frown and scratch his nose.

"Maybe I want it to be permanent," the Commander replied.

Now frustration flooded through Tuvok and he took another couple of steps forward.

"Indeed. May I enquire what has happened to make you change your mind… yet again?"

Chakotay frowned at him again and scratched the back of his neck.

"Well, I was under the impression that you'd decided to direct your attentions elsewhere," he snapped.

Tuvok was at a loss after this statement: his frustration grew and he strode forward towards Chakotay and only stopped when Chakotay took a quick step backwards.

"I beg your pardon?" he asked.

"Oh I think you know what I mean," replied Chakotay angrily, as he scratched his nose again. "You've spent the last few days stalking Tom Paris. Is that your preferred method of pursuing someone?"

Tuvok felt as if his body was on fire as his frustration reached an all time high. A small part of his mind told him that this was rather strange. A larger part of his mind simply encouraged him in the next action he took.

"I am not attracted to Tom Paris," he stated firmly. " _He_ is not my mate."

And then he stepped forward and pulled Chakotay into his arms. For a moment Chakotay struggled furiously, but Tuvok used his superior strength to his advantage, and eventually held Chakotay in place and turned his face upwards. Then he pounced on Chakotay's mouth with his own.

Chakotay's lips were a rigid line against his and Tuvok pressed harder. The small voice in his head told him that his behaviour was not normal, but it was such a relief to have his mate in his arms that he ignored it. When Chakotay's mouth finally opened and Tuvok felt Chakotay's body relax, a flood of red-hot desire took any thought out of his head and he simply sank into the sensations.

Now Chakotay was returning the kiss and Tuvok could feel the shivers running through the Commander's body. Eventually Chakotay's arms slipped around Tuvok's shoulders and he pushed closer. Tuvok tightened the embrace and deepened the kiss. He heard Chakotay groan.

He couldn't believe how it felt. He could almost feel the heat flowing between them and his blood seemed to be burning in his veins. Everything seemed to slow down and his senses were completely absorbed in their kiss. Every slow brush of his tongue against Chakotay's sent waves of ecstasy through his body, every small moan he heard from Chakotay made his hunger grow.

Tuvok found himself pushing Chakotay back against the viewport and then he lifted Chakotay's legs and wrapped them around his waist, his hands firmly gripping Chakotay's ass. Tuvok felt Chakotay gasp against his lips and writhe against Tuvok's body. The first press of their groins was like a warp core breach; it reverberated outward through Tuvok's body right to the tips of his hair.

Then his hunger seemed to ease slightly and he became intensely aware of every part of Chakotay's body that met his own. Something not quite right was going on behind his neck where Chakotay had draped his arms, and it was with a sense of shock that Tuvok realized that Chakotay was furiously scratching his other forearm. This seemed a very strange thing to be doing at such a moment.

He broke the kiss abruptly and was surprised by a small wave of dizziness. Chakotay groaned and opened his eyes, to look searchingly into Tuvok's face.

"What?" he whispered.

Another wave of dizziness hit Tuvok and with it came a very strange sensation, almost as if his stomach was bubbling. The next feeling was familiar, even though it was not one he experienced often.

The sensation grew rapidly and he turned to race for the bathroom, only hearing the crash and then the cursing behind him. He got there just in time, and with a mixture of humiliation and relief he proceeded to vomit up what seemed to be everything he had ever eaten in his entire life. When he finished, he turned and looked up, not surprised to see Chakotay standing in the doorway.

"Well, that's very flattering, I must say," said Chakotay, his eyes snapping with fury.

Tuvok frowned as he saw that Chakotay was now scratching his chest with one hand and his thigh with the other. He peered closer, and discovered that Chakotay's face was a rather interesting shade of orange.

"Commander, something is wrong," he gasped. "Look at yourself…" He could say no more as his stomach bubbled again and he once more leaned over the toilet.

Dimly he was aware of Chakotay moving behind him, and then he definitely heard him swear. The last thing he heard was Chakotay requesting an emergency transport for two to sickbay.

* * *

For a couple of days B'Elanna had managed to delay responding to the Doctor's request to see him in sickbay, citing the pressure of performing manual checks on all the turbolifts as the reason.

She had been amused as his messages had steadily become more threatening, but that day she had finally finished with the turbolifts and she decided that it was time to put the Doctor out of his misery.

So she turned up at sickbay and was immediately greeted with a furious tirade from the Doctor. When she calmly pointed out to him that one of the reasons the joke had gone on for so long was his arrogant refusal to believe that he was talking about squirrels, he threatened to report her to the Captain.

B'Elanna then smiled at him sweetly. "You could do that I suppose," she said. "However than I would be forced to report that when I was changing your program I discovered that someone else had been tinkering with it as well. Do you care to explain to her how your hearing range has increased by 250 percent?"

There was a long moment of silence, on B'Elanna's part satisfied, on the Doctor's part bitter.

"I didn't think so," purred B'Elanna. "Now, I'd better fix both problems hadn't I?"

Then suddenly the computer informed them of an incoming medical emergency and they both turned towards the whir of the transporter to see Tuvok and Chakotay materialize on the floor.

Chakotay was standing, and the first thing B'Elanna noticed was the strange colour of his face. It was a brilliant orange.

"Oh, what is it…" snarled the Doctor, but he broke off quickly, when Tuvok, who had been kneeling on the floor, slowly toppled over, unconscious.

"A medical tricorder, quick," he said to B'Elanna as he crouched down beside Tuvok.

She quickly grabbed a tricorder and handed it to him. Then she looked at Chakotay and was shocked to see him scratching himself furiously, grimacing in pain.

"Uh… Doctor," she said.

The Doctor looked up. "Get him to a biobed," he ordered and B'Elanna instantly obeyed. The Doctor scanned Chakotay, and then gave him a hypospray. Chakotay's eyes immediately closed.

"I've sedated him," said the Doctor and then returned to Tuvok. After a minute, he looked up at B'Elanna and her heart sank at the grave look on his face.

"You'd better get the Captain down here," he said. "They've both been poisoned."


	13. Chapter 13

"It's the same toxin in both of them, but in each case it's a different reaction," the Doctor explained to the Captain. "In Commander Chakotay's case, it's affected his skin. He's developing a rash, which is peeling everywhere, and, as you can see, his colour has changed. Lieutenant Tuvok's case is more serious; he has lapsed into a coma. The toxin is affecting his entire nervous system."

"I see," said the Captain, with a frown. "Is it lethal?"

"I don't even know what it is," replied the Doctor. "I need a sample of the poison, to be sure. The antidote will probably have to be slightly different for each case, I'll need to adapt it for both Vulcan and squirrel physiology."

The Captain had been about to speak, but she now gazed at the Doctor with an open mouth.

"Squirrel?" she finally asked.

"Oh, great," said the Doctor, and tossed the regenerator he had been holding onto the tray.

B'Elanna spoke up. "Ah… just a slight technical difficulty, Captain. I was here to fix it. It's probably best just to ignore it."

The Captain's eyes closed for a moment.

"Fine," she said in a tight voice. "I've more important things to worry about anyway. I don't know how this poisoning could have happened, but I'm going to find out. Do what you can, Doctor, and I'll try to find the poison, and the poisoner."

B'Elanna and the Doctor watched as the Captain swept out of sickbay, almost colliding with Kes.

"I got the emergency message, Doctor," Kes said breathlessly. "What's going on?"

Then she saw the bodies on the biobeds and froze.

"Commander Chakotay and Lieutenant Tuvok have been poisoned," said the Doctor.

"POISONED?" shrieked Kes.

The Doctor frowned at her. "There's no need to yell, Kes. Now, until I get a sample of the poison, we can only treat the symptoms. There's not much we can do for Tuvok, but the Commander's skin is peeling down to the deeper layers and we need to regenerate it."

He picked up the regenerator and held it out to Kes, but she simply stood and stared at him.

"Oh no," she finally wailed. "I didn't think…" She took a deep breath. "I think I know where you can get a sample Doctor."

"You do?" asked the Doctor, excitedly. "Then don't just stand there, go and get it."

Kes hit her combadge. "Kes to Neelix. Neelix could you bring that box of Talaxian aphrodisiac to sickbay immediately. It's an emergency."

Everyone could hear the surprise in Neelix's voice when he replied, "On my way. Neelix out."

There was a long moment of tense silence.

Surprisingly it was B'Elanna who spoke first. "Talaxian aphrodisiac?"

"Yes," confirmed Kes, eyeing the still silent Doctor nervously. "I was trying to help them. They were having difficulties…" she broke off and looked worriedly at B'Elanna.

"With their relationship," B'Elanna finished. "I know. By Kahless balls, I thought I was bad."

Then the Doctor finally found his voice. "Are you saying, Kes, that you administered this Talaxian aphrodisiac to Commander Chakotay and Lieutenant Tuvok?"

"Yes," said Kes, and she cringed slightly.

"Without their knowledge?" asked the Doctor.

"Yes," whispered Kes.

"I don't believe this," snapped the Doctor. "After everything I've taught you, how could you be so blindingly stupid? Didn't you even check that an aphrodisiac for Talaxians might be poisonous to Vulcans and squirrels?"

"I didn't think," wailed Kes. "I was trying to help them."

"INSTEAD YOU'VE ALMOST KILLED THEM," yelled the Doctor.

"Doctor, just calm down," B'Elanna interrupted. "This isn't doing anyone any good. Lets just deal with the situation, right?"

The Doctor took a deep, unneeded breath. "Fine," he said calmly, and then he glared again at Kes. "I think we'll be going back to remedial studies for a while."

Then the sickbay doors opened and Neelix scurried in carrying a small wooden box. He handed it to Kes, who then handed it to the Doctor.

"What's going on?" Neelix asked.

It was B'Elanna who answered. "Kes has given Commander Chakotay and Lieutenant Tuvok some of your… well, that." She pointed at the box in the Doctor's hand.

"Oh," said Neelix, and then he frowned at Kes. "You shouldn't have done that, dearest."

"I know," said Kes miserably.

"Neelix," said the Doctor. "I need to know anything you can tell me about this aphrodisiac. Have you ever given some to any other squirrels on the ship? And if you have, how did it affect those squirrels?"

Neelix beamed at him. "What's a squirrel?"

" _Aaaghh!_ " The Doctor threw the regenerator he was holding at the opposite wall and whirled around to B'Elanna. "Lieutenant, if you are going to stay in sickbay could you at least… FIX… MY… PROGRAM!"

* * *

A frantic two hours later, antidotes had been administered to Commander Chakotay and Lieutenant Tuvok, and the Doctor's program had been fixed. The Doctor had generously reported to the Captain that the poisoning had merely been an allergy to something they had eaten, and apologized for his overreaction. To Kes' great relief, the Captain had accepted this story and ordered the matter closed.

Now the four of them stood and watched the two men sleeping on the biobeds.

"When will they wake up?" asked B'Elanna.

"A couple of hours yet," replied the Doctor. "But they'll be one hundred percent when they do."

"How are we going to explain this to them?" asked Kes nervously.

"Same story as we told the Captain, I guess," said B'Elanna, and the Doctor nodded his agreement.

"I still want to know why you gave them my Vigoran powder, dearest," said Neelix.

Kes sighed. "Well, Lieutenant Tuvok has been trying to establish a relationship with Commander Chakotay. It hadn't been going really well, and this last week I was worried that Tuvok might give up. Then I sensed that the Commander was angry with him, so I tried to help," she shook her head. "I've been such an idiot."

"Hmmph," said B'Elanna. "I have been too. I set up a failure in the security systems, and then when that didn't work, I trapped them in a turbolift."

"Well, that is a surprise," Neelix was gleefully rubbing his hands together. "Mr Vulcan and the Commander."

The Doctor had been staring at B'Elanna. "Is that why the Lieutenant kept getting injured? What were you trying to do, kill him?"

" _I_ almost succeeded," sniffed Kes, and Neelix patted her shoulder.

"Now, now dearest, don't worry. Neelix will fix everything," he reassured her.

"At least I tried," snapped B'Elanna, glaring at the Doctor.

" _I_ gave the Lieutenant the benefit of my advice," stated the Doctor, smugly.

"Oh, and what advice did you give him? How to impress other squirrels with the size of his nuts?"

"I advised him to research an expert in romantic liaisons," snapped the Doctor.

"Ha!" barked B'Elanna. "Let me guess, Tom Paris. You're the biggest idiot of us all, if you think that pig could help with a serious relationship. Why, he thinks that the best… wait a minute," she broke off and turned to Neelix. "Did you just say that you'd fix everything?"

"Of course," Neelix beamed at her. "You're all a bunch of amateurs at matchmaking obviously, but you're in luck, I'm an expert. I can't tell you how many matches I've made… let me see, first there was…"

"Neelix," B'Elanna interrupted. "I really think that we should let them work it out for themselves. We've done enough damage already."

" _You've_ done enough damage," corrected Neelix. " _I_ don't intend to cause any damage at all. You see, where you all went wrong was in the way you tried to use external situations to get them together. You've really got to understand the subjects to make a match work. You've got to use their emotions…"

"Neelix," said Kes. "I really think B'Elanna is right."

"Don't worry, dearest, I told you I'll fix it all up." Neelix patted her shoulder again.

The Doctor had been staring in fascination at Neelix, and now he finally spoke, "What do you mean by 'use their emotions'?"

"Ah," Neelix rubbed his hands together. "Well, an example… Commander Chakotay can be a flighty individual you know. He's in a position of authority on the ship, all hours. So in a relationship, he's only going to be able to respect a partner who won't be intimidated by his authority. I bet you anything he's been giving Tuvok the run around, testing to see how firmly our Mr Vulcan can handle him. Now that means we need to set up a situation where Tuvok can demonstrate that he can deal with Chakotay's temperament and keep him in line."

"And how would we do that?" asked B'Elanna, fascinated in spite of herself.

"Well, does the Lieutenant consider Commander Chakotay as his mate?"

"Yes, he does," replied B'Elanna.

"Then it's easy," said Neelix with another beaming smile. "You may not realize this but Vulcans can be quite possessive of their mates."

"How do you know that?" asked Kes.

"Oh, just a bit of research I did," replied Neelix. "You can never know when some trivial bit of information might come in handy."

"So then, what exactly do we do?" B'Elanna was now smiling widely, as was the Doctor.

"Simple," said Neelix, matching their smiles. "We make Mr Vulcan jealous."


	14. Chapter 14

"Harry, thanks for helping out in engineering today."

"No problem, B'Elanna, although I'm not sure why you needed me."

"Oh… well, I thought I might, that's all. And it was about time we ran a full diagnostic on the ops systems, anyway."

"Yeah, I guess so, but we did one two months ago."

"Well, Commander Chakotay seems to want more regular system checks these days. Oh… that reminds me. Can you take this report to the Commander? He wanted it as soon as it was finished."

"Well, it's kind of late, isn't it? He might be asleep. Why don't you give it to him first thing tomorrow?"

"He wanted it immediately, Harry."

"Well, can't you take it?"

" _ **Will you just take the damn report?**_ Uh… sorry… look I've got some things to finish up here."

"Okay, I'm going, I'm going."

* * *

"It's a shame really, isn't it Kes?"

"What is, B'Elanna?"

"You know… about Chakotay and Tuvok."

"Oh… yes, I really thought they'd get together, but it doesn't look like it will happen now, does it?"

"Hmm… I have to say, I'm rather surprised at Chakotay. I mean, _Harry Kim?_ "

"What are you talking about B'Elanna?"

"Well, don't tell anyone, but Harry's always had this thing for Chakotay, and he's decided to try and get to know the Commander better… if you know what I mean."

"Really?"

"Yeah, and I'll tell you something else. Chakotay seems to be encouraging him."

"Really?

"…"

"Has he gone?"

"Yeah."

"Do you think he heard?"

"Yeah."

"This is fun!"

"Oh Yeah."

* * *

"Ensign Kim! Just the person. Could you do something for me?"

"Depends on what it is, Neelix."

"Oh, it's nothing too taxing, I assure you. It's just that Commander Chakotay is busy working on some reports and he asked for a meal to be sent to his quarters. I suppose he's out of replicator rations. Anyway, I just haven't got the time to take it. I wonder if you could drop it off for me?"

"Well… I guess so, Neelix. No problem."

"It's that tray over there."

"Okay… uh Neelix, that's an awful lot of food."

"I didn't want the Commander to go hungry, Ensign."

"Yeah, well, why the big vase of flowers?"

"The Commander's busy writing reports. I imagine that's rather boring. Don't you think the flowers might cheer him up, Ensign?"

"I guess so, Neelix."

* * *

"It was obviously just a stupid rumour. That idiot Carey is always getting things wrong, Sue. The Commander and Tuvok have hardly been near each other all week."

"You know, Megan, you're dead right, and I know for a fact that Commander Chakotay's getting involved with Harry Kim."

"I know, I know, I saw him taking dinner to the Commander's quarters really late the other night, and he had a big bunch of flowers. So sweet."

"That's nothing, I saw Harry leaving the Commander's quarters at 0530 yesterday morning. It looked like he'd been there all night… he was all rumpled."

"Ensigns Nicolletti and Delaney, why aren't you at your stations?"

"Oh… Lieutenant Tuvok. We were just on our way. Sorry."

* * *

"You know, Tom, I think I might put B'Elanna's squirrel thing back in the Doctor's program."

"Why, Harry? Not that I'm objecting, of course, but if it was up to me, I'd have his clothes disappear every time he opened his mouth. That'd keep him quiet."

"Ha, yeah. He's really annoyed me. The other night he called me to sickbay, after I'd already gone to sleep. So I got dressed and turned up and he asks me to take all these medical reports to Commander Chakotay, says he needs a response to them right away. He tells me that the Commander is still on the bridge but that he's commed him to tell him that I'm taking the reports to his quarters, and that the Commander will meet me there."

"Well, it's his usual level of consideration, but what's the big deal?"

"I waited for quite a long time, and because I was still a bit tired, I fell asleep on the Commander's couch. The next thing I know, it's hours later and the Commander is waking me up, demanding to know why I'm sleeping in his quarters. I told him the story, and he didn't know a thing about it. The Doctor hadn't commed him, and to top it all off, the Commander had been pulling a double shift because the Captain was working on something in engineering, and the Doctor _knew_ that!"

"That's… strange, really. Maybe the Doctor is losing his holographic mind."

"Yeah, well, I think I'll help him along."

* * *

"Oh, not again, Neelix."

"If you wouldn't mind, Ensign Kim."

"Look, if I'd wanted to be a waiter, I wouldn't have joined Starfleet."

"You wouldn't want a commanding officer to starve, would you?"

"Can't someone else take it? I took one a few days ago."

"There's no one else available at the moment, Ensign."

"Oh damn, okay, but this is the last time. And Neelix?"

"Yes, Ensign Kim?"

"These flowers are the ugliest I've ever seen!"

"Yes, Ensign Kim."

"Ooops! Sorry Lieutenant Tuvok."

"Apology accepted, Ensign Kim."

"Oh, Mr Vulcan, how are you today? What would you like to eat this evening?"

"I'm fine, thank you Mr Neelix. Tell me, where is Ensign Kim going with that tray?"

"Ensign Kim? Oh, yes, that's so romantic isn't it?"

"Romantic?"

"Yes, our newest couple on Voyager."

"To whom are you referring, Mr Neelix?"

"Well, I guess it won't be a secret for much longer. Commander Chakotay and Ensign Kim are beginning a relationship. Isn't that wonderful?"

"Indeed."

"Where are you going, Mr Vulcan? You haven't eaten yet."

"I am not hungry, Mr Neelix."


	15. Chapter 15

The third time Neelix sent him with a tray to Commander Chakotay's quarters, Ensign Harry Kim considered telling him to stuff the tray where he knew it wouldn't fit. However, when he saw the contents of the tray, he changed his mind. Bajoran cheese pie was one of his favourite meals and the last time he'd taken a tray to Chakotay, there had been so much food that the Commander had asked him to stay and help eat it. This time there appeared to be even more food, and as well as that, there was a bottle of chilled white wine.

His mouth watering, Harry set off with the tray. He endured the smart remarks and sly looks he encountered on the way, with an air of self-righteous hunger, and was amply rewarded for his patience when he arrived at the Commander's quarters. Chakotay took one look at the tray, sighed, stated that he wasn't very fond of Neelix's version of Bajoran cheese pie and handed Harry a wine glass.

"Actually, I think it's one of the things he's managed to improve," said Harry as he poured them both some wine.

The Commander stared at him in amazement. "You're joking, aren't you?"

"No," said Harry seriously. "I never liked that green cheese the Bajorans use and because there's just no way to replicate it, Neelix had to improvise an alternative. It's the only thing he's done with Leola root that I've ever liked."

"Really," was Chakotay's slightly muffled reply, and Harry eyed him suspiciously. He rather thought that the Commander was struggling to suppress a laugh.

"Really," he replied firmly.

"You mean you didn't like the Leola root apple dumplings he made you?"

Harry almost choked on a sip of wine and met Chakotay's twinkling eyes, and they both laughed. They were still laughing when the doors slid open and Lieutenant Tuvok strode into the room.

"Just as I thought," the Vulcan stated, in a rather wooden manner.

Chakotay's laughter died and Harry cringed at the fury that appeared in his eyes, extremely thankful that it wasn't directed at him.

"Lieutenant Tuvok," the Commander said in a quiet voice. "Would you care to explain why you have entered my quarters without permission? It had better be an emergency."

"Would you care to explain what you are doing with Ensign Kim?"

"No I would not!" Chakotay's voice rose slightly. "Why should I explain anything I do to _you?"_

"Ah…" said Harry weakly, finally finding his voice. "Perhaps I should go."

Tuvok turned to him and Harry could only describe his expression as glowering. A small frisson of fear ran along his spine.

"Yes," said the Vulcan. "You will leave immediately, Ensign Kim."

"HOW DARE YOU!" Chakotay roared. He reached across and gripped Harry's arm. "Who do you think you are, ordering people out of my quarters?"

"I am your mate," stated Tuvok firmly. "And you are mine. I will not tolerate your attempt to take another mate."

"Bllmph," spluttered Harry, his mind still stuck on the word 'mate'. He cringed when they both turned to look at him.

"I'll go," he finally managed to whisper, and he attempted to pull his arm out of Chakotay's firm hold.

"Ensign Kim, I am ordering you to stay," said the Commander with a truly terrifying smile.

"Ensign Kim, I am ordering you to leave," said Lieutenant Tuvok and he strode forward and grasped Harry's other arm. Harry's knees began to wobble.

"Ha! I outrank you. Too bad," crowed Commander Chakotay. "He stays."

Harry began to struggle against both their holds, wishing fervently that he could disappear. If he could just get one hand to his combadge, he could request a transport to the Captain's ready room where he was sure he would be safe.

"There is an easy solution to this," he heard Tuvok say grimly. Then he felt a hand on his neck and everything went black.

* * *

Neelix had rubbed his hands together in glee as he'd followed Lieutenant Tuvok to Commander Chakotay's quarters. He had been careful to give the tray to Harry Kim while Tuvok was in the mess hall and he'd made sure the Vulcan saw them. His masterstroke had been the bottle of wine. He knew it was one of Tuvok's favourites, and as he'd watched Tuvok stride out of the mess hall, he knew it had worked. It was obviously, to use an odd earth expression that he'd found in the colloquial database, the straw that broke the camel's back.

Now his triumph grew as, from his hiding spot, he saw Lieutenant Tuvok dump Ensign Kim's inert body on the floor outside Commander Chakotay's quarters, and then return inside. He could hear Commander Chakotay yelling even from this distance.

This was going to be one of his greatest matches, he reflected with a self-satisfied smirk. He had to acknowledge that Kes, the Doctor, and B'Elanna had ably assisted him. With a lot more training they would one day match his own skill in matchmaking.

" _Harry!"_

Tom Paris' exclamation of surprise startled Neelix out of his reverie and he glanced over to find the Lieutenant kneeling beside his friend's body. He quickly trotted over.

"Neelix," said Tom Paris. "Here's Harry, unconscious. Do you know how he got like this? I'd better get him to sickbay."

"Oh, that won't be necessary," Neelix assured him. "I'm sure it was only a minor Vulcan nerve pinch. Look, he's already coming round," he added as Harry groaned.

"Vulcan nerve pinch?" exclaimed Tom. "Who did that?"

"Oh god…" Harry mumbled and they watched as his eyes slowly opened. He blinked at them and then sat up. "Tell me they've gone."

"Who's gone?" asked Tom, sounding thoroughly exasperated.

"Of course, they have," Neelix told Harry happily. "I must say, I'm very proud of you, Harry. You played your part very well indeed."

"What part?" asked Harry.

"What part?" asked Tom.

"Your part as 'the other man' of course," replied Neelix, beaming at them both. "Now that Lieutenant Tuvok has become jealous enough to show his strength to Commander Chakotay, there should be no more problems."

"Jealous?" asked Harry. "Oh god, I thought they were going to kill me."

"What do you mean 'the other man'?" asked Tom in a tight voice, and Neelix glanced at him in surprise.

"It was all an act, of course," he said. "Harry did a wonderful job."

" _I didn't even know_ ," growled Harry. " _I'm_ going to kill _you_ , Neelix."

" _Will someone tell me what the hell is going on?"_

Harry turned to Tom. "I hate it when you're right," he complained. "But it seems that Lieutenant Tuvok and Commander Chakotay _are_ in a relationship."

"They are?" asked Tom, in surprise.

"You must be the only two on the ship who don't know," said Neelix smugly.

They both ignored him, and then Tom spoke again. "What does that have to do with you lying on the floor unconscious?"

"Well," Harry blushed slightly. "I believe that Lieutenant Tuvok thought that I was… ah… making a move on his mate. So, he gave me a Vulcan nerve pinch."

"He had no right to do that," said Tom, with a frown.

"No, believe me, Tom, I'm actually extremely thankful that he did," replied Harry. "Look I'm sick of sitting on the floor. I need a drink."

"Sounds good to me."

Tom helped Harry up and Neelix watched as they both wandered up the hall, still talking. A smile slowly spread across his face. He'd have to talk to the others, but it looked like he'd found the perfect couple for them to practice their matchmaking skills on.


	16. Chapter 16

After depositing Ensign Kim on the corridor floor, Tuvok strode back into Chakotay's quarters and faced the Commander. As he watched, the fury slowly died from Chakotay's face and his eyes began to twinkle with warm amusement.

"So, do you think that worked?"

Tuvok's eyebrow rose. "I sincerely hope so."

"You were much more melodramatic than I thought you'd be," stated Chakotay with a slight smile.

Tuvok's eyebrow rose even higher. "Unfortunately I thought it necessary. Given the crudity of their previous attempts I believed that only a similar crudity on our part would convince them."

Chakotay laughed. "Lucky thing that we could somehow hear them in sickbay. I've never experienced that before, I was unconscious, yet I was still aware of what was going on around me."

"An unusual side affect of poisoning, indeed," agreed Tuvok, dryly.

"It will be a long time before I forgive Neelix for describing me as flighty and temperamental," said Chakotay, frowning.

"Ah."

Chakotay eyed Tuvok suspiciously for a moment, and then broke into another smile.

"It was fun though. I just hope it's really gotten them off our backs. I don't think I could take much more. I'm sure they would have eventually managed to kill us."

"Of course," said Tuvok in his blandest voice. "It will only be truly convincing if we appear to be continuing with a relationship."

There was a long moment of silence.

"You know," said Chakotay finally, in an equally bland voice. "I never pegged you for the manipulative type. I should have known when you came up with this idea of going along with their plan, that you were just pushing me into a corner."

"Strange that you did not know," said Tuvok.

There was another long moment of silence.

"Fine," said Chakotay, and even he could hear the slight pettishness in his voice. He cleared his throat and began again, "All right, maybe I did… sort of… realize. I know myself well enough to realize that I may have been testing you, just as Neelix said."

A small gleam of amusement appeared in Tuvok's eyes. "May I assume that I have passed the test?"

An answering gleam of amusement shone from Chakotay's eyes. "For now."

Then Tuvok stepped closer to Chakotay and his face became serious. "Will you be able to trust me? In any relationship there are mistakes made, and it is true, I am inexperienced with a human. I _will_ make mistakes. Can you trust me to learn from them?"

Chakotay swallowed heavily as he gazed up at Tuvok. It seemed the time had come to finally decide whether a relationship with Tuvok would be worthwhile, but he was finding it difficult to think clearly. Tuvok's proximity was having a curious affect on him, he couldn't breathe properly and he felt too hot. And it was annoying that Tuvok seemed completely unaffected.

But then, looking into Tuvok's dark eyes, Chakotay noticed something. Tuvok's pupils were dilated and, as he watched, they continued to dilate. It was a small physical reaction, but somehow it was this reaction that decided Chakotay.

After everything they had gone through, and all the delays that Chakotay himself had imposed, Tuvok was still here _asking_ for a chance. And it seemed he was still physically attracted to Chakotay. Given Chakotay's own feelings for the Vulcan, and he had to acknowledge they were there, he would be an absolute idiot to walk away from this opportunity.

So he took a deep breath and answered, "Yes, I can trust you."

Then a miracle occurred. Tuvok, a Vulcan, smiled, and the freefall that Chakotay had been in, smoothed to a glide and he landed safely. He returned the smile briefly and then reached up and placed his lips gently on Tuvok's.

The kiss was gentle for about a second, almost immediately Tuvok's hot tongue found its way into his mouth and Chakotay gasped and gripped the Vulcan's shoulders tightly. Tuvok's response was to tighten his arms around Chakotay's waist and pull him closer.

The closer Tuvok's body got to his, the harder it seemed to be for Chakotay to breathe, and his heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to explode. _Gods,_ he thought, _this is just a kiss. If we go further than this, will I survive?_

The thought of going further sent molten tendrils of desire winding around his body, and his hands slid down from Tuvok's shoulders and he began to unzip the Vulcan's uniform. Immediately Tuvok released him and stepped back, and Chakotay's body screamed its protest.

"Wh…" Chakotay cleared his throat. "What's wrong?"

"Perhaps we should slow down," Tuvok answered in an irritatingly calm voice.

Chakotay shook his head and stepped forward. "I think we've gone slowly enough. You were right in the first place, we should have just gotten right to it, then there wouldn't have been any of the problems."

"You weren't ready," stated Tuvok.

"Well, I'm ready now," Chakotay took another step forward and his body brushed against Tuvok's. His hand gently pressed against Tuvok's groin and caressed the erection he found there. "And so are you."

Then, he stepped away and turned, walking back to his bedroom. When he got there, he halted at the bed and glanced over his shoulder. He smiled when he found Tuvok right behind him.

He turned into Tuvok's arms and their lips met again. The kiss was slow and deep, but Chakotay could feel the urgency rising in his body and ground himself against Tuvok's leg. Tuvok's immediate response was to unzip Chakotay's uniform and push it off his shoulders.

A minute later Chakotay found himself on his back on the bed, almost completely naked. He looked along his body and smiled at his erection tenting his shorts, and then looked up at Tuvok. The Vulcan had removed his uniform and was pulling off his undershirt and Chakotay's breathing shortened again as he saw all the dark, velvety skin exposed to his appreciative eyes. He sat up and reached out to touch.

Heat. That was the first sensation. Chakotay had never touched anyone so hot before and when he leaned forward and gently licked Tuvok's hip, he almost expected his tongue to sizzle. Tuvok's hands tightened on his shoulders, and he was again pushed back onto the bed. Then Tuvok leaned over him, their mouths met again, and Chakotay moaned as all of that hot, smooth skin rested against his own.

Tuvok's hands held his head in place as his mouth devoured Chakotay's. Chakotay was feeling slightly overwhelmed but it was certainly not an unpleasant sensation so he relaxed into the kiss, his tongue sliding against Tuvok's. He wrapped his arms around Tuvok's waist and smoothed his hands along the satin skin of the Vulcan's back, feeling the heat against his palms. His body shuddered with pleasure.

Then Tuvok shifted slightly, and he felt the Vulcan's erection pressing against his own, through their shorts. Urgency rose in him again, and almost without his control, his hips thrust up against Tuvok's, seeking, and finding, harder friction.

Chakotay felt Tuvok's hands at his hips, pushing his shorts down, and he lifted his hips again. Their long, deep kiss was broken, when Tuvok sat up to push Chakotay's shorts off his legs. Chakotay gasped for air as Tuvok removed his own shorts.

Tuvok settled on top of him again. Chakotay parted his legs and raised his knees, and suddenly their erections met in hot friction.

"Oh Gods," Chakotay gasped.

"Indeed," Tuvok agreed in his ear, and Chakotay smiled as he heard Tuvok's slight breathlessness.

Tuvok's hips were moving against his, thrusting in small circles, as their erections rubbed together. Chakotay found himself matching the Vulcan's thrusts with his own, and he closed his eyes, letting the sensations drift over him. Tuvok's lips ran along Chakotay's throat and then found his mouth again, and Chakotay opened himself wide to another deep kiss.

Once more the urgency rose and the thrusts from both of them became more forceful. Tuvok's hands were now gripping Chakotay's wrists against the bed, giving them both more leverage. Chakotay strained upwards against Tuvok's mouth and body, trying to find that last burst of pleasure, when one of the fantasies he'd had in the past drifted through his mind and he knew, without a doubt, what he wanted.

He tore his mouth away from Tuvok's. "Wait… wait," he gasped.

Immediately Tuvok's thrusts ceased and Chakotay almost groaned at the frustration.

"What is wrong?" Tuvok asked, and Chakotay could see the concern in his eyes.

"Nothing's wrong," Chakotay assured him breathlessly and tried to pull his wrist from Tuvok's grip. Tuvok released him immediately and Chakotay reached under a pillow and pulled out a tube. He handed it to Tuvok, who took it and examined it closely.

"Lubricant," he stated.

"Yes," Chakotay was annoyed to feel his face burn. "You know how to use it?"

"No," said Tuvok, simply.

_Oh boy_ , thought Chakotay, his face now completely aflame, and he could see Tuvok watching him curiously.

"Ah…" stammered Chakotay. "You've never been to bed with a male before?"

"Only Vulcan males," replied Tuvok. "I hadn't realized that it would be so different with a human." He examined the tube again. "What is this for?"

"Oh …" began Chakotay, and then he took a deep breath. "It makes it easier to, ah... you know, go inside a… a human male."

"Indeed," said Tuvok, obviously fascinated. "How do I use it?"

"Well, that's of course, if you want to," Chakotay blurted, suddenly realizing that he didn't really know much about Vulcan sexual habits, and that maybe he was jumping to conclusions about what Tuvok would want.

"Want to what?" asked Tuvok. "Do I eat it?" He waved the tube in Chakotay's face.

Chakotay closed his eyes. "No," he began. "I meant if you want to… ah… you know," a small noise from Tuvok made him open his eyes, and he gazed up at the Vulcan seeing the obvious amusement on his face. "You _bastard!"_

"Indeed," murmured Tuvok, and Chakotay saw he had opened the tube and now had lubricant on his fingers.

Chakotay began to struggle to shift Tuvok off him. "I meant it, you're a _complete_ bastard! And if you think that I'm going to…"

His struggles became half-hearted as he felt one of Tuvok's long fingers pushing inside him.

"… if you think I'm going to let you…"

That finger wiggled, and Chakotay's hips thrust upwards slightly.

"…there's no way that I'm letting you… oh yeah, there…. Gods!"

Chakotay's hands gripped Tuvok's shoulders as another finger was pushed inside. Tuvok's lips brushed against his, and he gasped against the Vulcan's mouth as Tuvok's fingers pressed against his prostate sending delicious shivers of pleasure running through his body.

Then those fingers were gone, and Chakotay spread his legs wider as Tuvok settled between them. Anticipation sang through his veins as he felt the blunt pressure, and then the painful stretch. He grimaced slightly and Tuvok eased back. The pain subsided after a moment, and he nodded. Tuvok surged forward and Chakotay bit his lip at the mixture of pleasure and pain that flowed over his body.

Tuvok began to move gently and Chakotay shuddered as every thrust pushed against his prostrate. He found himself arching up to meet every thrust that Tuvok made, and he moaned at the increased pressure. He closed his eyes, struggling for breath as his body was rocked by Tuvok's.

Tuvok gazed down at Chakotay with what he could only describe as fascinated admiration. He had never expected it to be like this. Chakotay's body gripped and clasped his tightly, as he angled every thrust for maximum pleasure. His own desire and need burned through his veins. He watched the ecstasy washing over Chakotay's face, mesmerised by the Commander's responsiveness. All of his previous partners having been Vulcan, he had never seen anything like this, and he found that it somehow increased his own pleasure tenfold.

Chakotay pushed against him, and Tuvok sped up his thrusts. When he heard the Commander groan deeply, he found himself thrusting even harder. Never had he come so close to losing control. Vulcan sex, while extremely pleasurable, was an exercise in control and technique. Now he found himself automatically responding to the desires he could sense coming from his partner. And somehow Chakotay was doing the same, instinctively giving Tuvok the reactions he was beginning to crave.

Again he gripped Chakotay's wrists into the bed, and Chakotay surged up to him, meeting his lips in a frenzied kiss. He sensed Chakotay's excitement at his own helplessness, along with a slight feeling of shame at the need, and without logical thought, projected reassurance to his mate. Chakotay again relaxed underneath him, and Tuvok realized with a slight sense of shock that their bond was already much deeper than he had expected.

Chakotay was again feeling overwhelmed, but he liked it very much indeed. Somehow Tuvok seemed to know exactly what to do to make Chakotay feel the most pleasure he had ever felt in his life. The thought crossed his mind that he'd been an absolute fool to give Tuvok the run around the way he had, but then all thought fled, as Tuvok began to pound even harder into him. He wrapped his legs around the Vulcan's waist and held on for dear life.

He began to struggle to get a hand between them so that he could stroke his own erection, but then there was a push so hard against his prostrate that he realized, with shock, that he was already close to orgasm. Then there was another push, and he groaned, and came, his body tightening and straining in ecstasy.

He floated down from his high, and Tuvok was still thrusting into him, but gently now, and the Vulcan's body was shivering. He opened his eyes, frustrated that he'd missed Tuvok's orgasm. He'd wanted to see his face, and he vowed to himself that next time he wouldn't miss it.

After a moment, Tuvok shifted and Chakotay felt him slip free, and was surprised at the lack of pain. Tuvok gazed down at him.

"Was that an acceptable use of lubricant?" the Vulcan asked.

Chakotay frowned in astonishment for a moment, and then laughter welled up inside him.

"Yes, very acceptable," he managed amidst snorts of laughter.

"Although," Chakotay continued, when he'd finally stopped laughing. "I wouldn't say no if you wanted more practice."

He watched Tuvok's eyebrow rise.


	17. Epilogue

"NO WAY **,** " roared B'elanna. "I wouldn't inflict that _pig_ Paris on my worst enemy, there's no way I'm setting him up with one of my best friends."

"I think Neelix is right," said Kes, from her perch on one of the biobeds.

"Oh, _you_ would," snorted B'Elanna. Kes frowned.

"What's that supposed to mean? And I wish you'd stop calling Tom a pig. He's really very nice."

"Sure," B'Elanna nodded. "In a completely pig kind of way."

"Oh, do be quiet," said the Doctor, and then turned to Neelix. "I'm fascinated at how you could come to the conclusion that Lieutenant Paris and Ensign Kim could have a romantic relationship."

"Tom gave me the idea, actually," replied Neelix. "I think he's already half way there, he just needs a push in the right direction."

"Oh, and what about Harry?" asked B'Elanna, grimly.

"I have to admit, I think he's pretty oblivious," said Neelix. "Perhaps he's still hung up on that Libby girl. But just think how much happier he'd be with Tom."

"Ha!" snorted B'Elanna.

"Of course, he would be," Kes smiled happily.

"Ha!" snorted B'Elanna.

"So, how would we go about it?" asked the Doctor, curiously.

"Well, it seems to me," Neelix explained, "that Tom is very protective of Harry. And Harry has enormous respect for Tom…"

"I can't think why," mumbled B'Elanna.

"As I said," continued Neelix, frowning at her. "Harry has enormous respect for Tom, which means he has high expectations of Tom, that Tom tries to live up to. And you must admit," directed at B'Elanna, "he always succeeds. All we have to do is create a situation where all those needs are met."

"How do we make Harry not so oblivious to the relationship?" asked B'Elanna, fascinated in spite of herself.

"Well," replied Neelix. "We'd have to tailor the situation so that he's forced to see it."

"I see," murmured the Doctor, and they all lapsed into deep thought.

After a moment, B'Elanna stirred and a slow smile spread across her face. They all looked at her expectantly.

"I think I have an idea."

* * *

CONTINUED IN THE SEQUEL - COMMAND POSSESSION


End file.
